Knock Knock
by DorothyGale123
Summary: After an akuma targets Marinette, a certain cat jumps to her rescue! Unfortunately, he fails to knock before jumping into his classmate's room. Chaos ensues. What follows is an awkward apology, way too many coincidences, and some realizations on both sides that the person they used to think of as a friend might be more than meets the eye. MariChat! Cover art by me!
1. Chapter 1

**SO! Fresh start! For those of you not in the know, this is a re-write of a previous work (which I actually intend to finish this time), but it won't be exactly the same. There are some things that have bothered me and things I've learned that I want to use to make this fic better.**

* * *

Chloe was at it again. Adrien had just gotten out of his car when he heard the unmistakable shrill of her screaming at someone. He looked up to see who the unlucky soul was and sighed.

He was earlier than normal today. The sky was just shedding the last vestiges of the pink dawn. Really, there shouldn't have been too many people at the school, but there had been a string of projects assigned lately so students had been at the school at all sorts of odd hours all week to use the library when it wasn't too crowded.

His childhood friend had gotten into another shouting match with Marinette. He couldn't tell what it was about from this distance, but knew Chloe had probably started it. Marinette was too nice to pick a fight with anyone, even a person she so clearly disliked. Adrien sighed again and started to make his way over to the two yelling girls, intending to diffuse the situation as best he could. Chloe may not listen to anyone, but she was unlikely to keep fighting like that in front of him.

"…. don't see what the big deal is," the blonde girl said as Adrien came into earshot. "I was just being _honest_. That's what _nice_ people do, isn't it, Sabrina?" She turned to her ever-present shadow, who had been nodding emphatically before Chloe had even finished her sentence.

"Of course, Chloe!" the smaller girl agreed. "You're the nicest person I know! You were just trying to help!" Marinette visibly bristled. _Uh-oh_. Adrien didn't know what this 'nice and honest' thing Chloe did was, but it seemed like a good idea to cut in now before Marinette blew her top and let loose on the other girl. He could say from experience that it was not fun to be on the receiving end of one of the freckled girl's death glares.

"Hey g-" Unfortunately, his interruption came just a second too late.

" _Excuse me_?! You aren't being honest, you're just insulting people to make yourself feel better!" Marinette's face was growing red and her fists were clenched at her sides, trembling in anger. Maybe he should try again.

"Uh-"

"You have no right to talk to her like that! You have no right to talk to _anyone_ like that! I don't care if you're the mayor's daughter, that doesn't make you any better than the rest of us!" Well, Adrien was being steadfastly ignored. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. BUT he should really do something to calm the girls down before….. wait. Her? Who was Marinette talking about?

"Psh. Of _course_ I'm better than all of you losers. The _only_ person at this school even _near_ my level is Adrien." Adrien, who was still being ignored, begged to differ. Chloe continued anyways. "Besides, _someone_ had to tell the poor thing how awful she looks. If her so-called 'friends' weren't going to, _I_ might as well do it."

There was a soft whimper from behind Marinette, and for the first time Adrien noticed someone standing there. It was a girl from their grade, Mireille, if he remembered correctly. She was one of the sweetest girls in school, up there with Rose and Marinette herself. She usually had a soft smile on her face, but now her soft eyes looked like they were holding back tears as she gently tugged on Marinette's sleeve.

"Marinette, it's okay…" she murmured. The quiet girl looked like she wanted to be anywhere but there at the moment.

"No, it's not!" the other noirette countered. "Chloe thinks she can just walk all over people and it's not right! People need to stand up to her!" Adrien agreed, but was still looking for a place to cut in to keep this from escalating further.

"But-" _Sorry, Mireille_.

" **Hey guys!** " he finally said, a bit louder than he needed to. He walked a bit closer and put his hand on Marinette's shoulder. "What's going on?"

" _A-Adrien!_ " the girl squeaked, tensing up under his hand. He tried not to be hurt at her obvious discomfort with him. "Wha-what, I mean how-no, when-"

"Adrikins!" Chloe interrupted, throwing her arms around his neck and dislodging him from Marinette. It was only through massive amounts of self control that he managed to keep from choking on the cloying scent of her perfume. "You won't _believe_ this! I was just being nice-like I _always_ am- and telling that girl over there how her outfit was _totally_ clashing, when Marinette came up and started yelling at me!" The blonde quickly fell into fake sobs against his chest and Adrien groaned inwardly. _Oh, boy_. Outside, though, he kept his featured schooled into bemused curiosity.

Adrien took a closer look at Mireille. She was wearing her normal outfit of a sweater and whit jeans. The only difference from normal was an elegant comb tucked into her hair. True, it didn't _technically_ go with the rest of her outfit, but there was nothing really wrong with it.

"I don't see the problem. You look really nice today, Mireille," the boy said. Said girl blushed and came out a bit from a still flustered Marinette.

"Y-you know me?" she asked.

"Of course I do!" Adrien replied. "You're the Kidz+ weather girl, right? I voted for you." He gave her a warm smile and she flushed deeper.

"O-oh. I mean-well- uh… th-thank you Adrien," she said quietly. During the exchange Chloe had stopped 'crying' and was now glaring daggers at Mireille.

"Come on, Adrikins," Chloe huffed, tugging him away. "We're going to be late for class." They really weren't. And even if they were, he doubted Chloe would really care. He still let her lead him to the classroom, though, thankful for the opportunity to leave without anything blowing up into a real fight. So as he, Chloe, and Sabrina made their way into the building he turned over his shoulder one last time and gave a quick wave to the two girls still standing at the entrance. Mireille still looked a bit dazed but Marinette quickly snapped out of her stupor with a small squeak and waved back stiffly. Adrien chuckled softly as he turned back around. He didn't exactly _like_ that Marinette wasn't comfortable with him, but he couldn't deny that she could be pretty cute.

* * *

Meanwhile, two dark-haired girls were trying- unsuccessfully- to compose themselves on the school steps.

"He touched my shoulder."

"He said I looked nice."

" _Oh, Adrien_ ," the girls sighed in unison. Then, somewhat surprised by the echo, looked up at each other before dissolving into giggles.

"So, I guess you like Adrien too, huh, Mireille?" Marinette asked the other girl, still smiling.

"Y-yeah," her companion replied. "He's just so…so…" she sighed again dreamily, putting her hands over her heart. "You know?" Marinette chuckled softly.

"Don't I ever." The blue-eyed teen thought back remorsefully to her past less-than-stellar interactions with her crush. "I just wish I could get a sentence out around him." Mireille nodded sympathetically and smiled.

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Mireille looked up and considered Marinette for a moment before continuing. "Though honestly, I think it's kind of strange that _you_ have trouble talking to him."

"What do you mean?" Marinette said quizzically.

"Well, it's just… you're so awesome and confident and smart…it kind of feels like you're the only girl in the school that has a chance with him." Marinette blushed profusely.

"W-what? You-I-Adrien-huh?" Mireille gave an amused smile at the other girl's reaction.

"I mean it, Marinette. You're a great person. If I had to lose Adrien to anyone in the school, I wouldn't mind if it were you."

"Noooo, I mean, that's sweet of you to say, but I'm just so clumsy and awkward and… me." Marinette stared at the ground dejectedly, studying her shoes.

"But it's so true! I mean, just look at how you deal with Chloe! No one else can do that, not even the teachers. They get so scared of her calling her father, but you…" Mireille trailed off and suddenly found her shoes very interesting as well.

"Speaking of Chloe," Marinette said, remembering exactly what had led to this conversation in the first place, "you shouldn't let what she says get to you. You're really pretty, Mireille." Said girl blushed and nodded.

"Thank you, Marinette."

The two teens shared another giggle, a small bond forming over their shared crush. But alas, school had to start, and the moment was inevitably broken.

"Hey, girl!" a familiar voice came from the bottom of the steps. The two girls turned to see Alya making her way up to her best friend and waved in greeting.

"Well, it was nice talking to you like this. And thanks again, Marinette."

"No problem. See you later?"

"Sure!" and with that, Mireille went into the building towards class.

Alya came up just as she was leaving and threw her arm around Marinette's shoulder.

"Hey, Alya. Good morning," the dark haired girl said with a smile.

"Morning to you, too," the brunette replied as she began to lead her friend into the school. "You're here early." Alya gave her a pointed look, as if trying to remind Marinette of every time she had rushed into class without a second to spare.

"I got here early to work on a project for Mme. Mendeleiev," she said defensively, pouting.

"Did you get it done?"

"No…" the noirette said sadly. "I was going to, but then when I got here…." She let out a frustrated groan.

"Does it have anything to do with why you were talking to Mireille before I showed up?" her friend asked. "I mean, she's nice and all, but you don't really hang out with her that much."

"I know, and yes it does," Marinette responded as they came into the classroom.

Both girls scrunched up their noses at the sight of Chloe standing in front of Adrien's desk, practically leaning over him. Said boy was slanted back a bit, his distaste not quite obvious but still there. Marinette hated seeing him uncomfortable, but there was nothing she could really do for him in this situation. Even if she didn't get tongue-tied around him, she had no real right to tell Chloe to back off. It wasn't like she was his girlfriend (yet). So she simply scowled and made her way to her seat. She gave Alya an 'I'll tell you later' look before glancing pointedly at Chloe. Her friend got the message and nodded in understanding.

Marinette made her way to her desk, pouting, but was soon saved from watching the love of her life being fawned over by the arrival of Nino.

"Hey, dude," the young DJ said.

"Hey, Nino! Morning," Adrien replied. His voice was neutral, but Marinette could see the way his shoulders relaxed just a bit and she smiled. The boys began talking about something inconsequential, probably another one of Nino's mix tapes, as other students began to filter into class. Marinette busied herself with sketching absentmindedly in her notebook while letting the sound of Adrien's voice wash over the background noise. Alya, realizing her friend was out for now, busied herself on her phone checking her blog.

"Alright, class, time to start!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Now, let me guess what you're thinking: 'Wow, two chapters in one day? Is it always gonna be like this?' To which my answer is… I don't know. I only sat down and wrote chapter two today because both comments I got when I posted this on AO3 were complaining about how the first chapter didn't seem to match the description in the box. In retrospect it was probably confusing to anyone that hadn't read my first work and I apologize.**

 **I probably won't have a regular update schedule, but I'll try for at least once a week. Now, to the new shower scene!**

* * *

It happened after school let out.

As Adrien walked up the steps to the library for some studying, Chloe's voice again and saw her once more saw her yelling at poor Mireille. Students passed and gave sympathetic looks, but no one stepped in. It was simply too common a sight for anyone to get worked up over it anymore. However, just as Adrien himself started to walk over to try and cam Chloe down (again), Marinette descended with fury in her eyes.

"That's enough, Chloe!" she said, getting between the blonde girl and Mireille. Alya was close behind, arms folded in silent solidarity with her best friend. Adrien took one look at Marinette's face and decided that _maybe_ he shouldn't get between the fuming girl and the object of her anger. For the sake of his modeling career.

"Ooooh, playing hero _again_ , Marinette? Don't you ever get tired of standing up for all those other losers." Adrien didn't think it was possibly for Marinette to look angrier than she already had. He was wrong. He was very, _very_ wrong.

"What is wrong with you?! Are you really so pathetic that you have to tear people down to make build yourself up?! Do you have a daily quota to fill or something?! Just lay off!"

"It's fine, Marinette…" Mireille tried to cut in quietly. A crowd was beginning to form and Adrien saw her beginning to squirm under the unwanted negative attention.

"It's _not_ fine Mireille! Chloe thinks that she can just say whatever she wants, and it's not right!"

"Um, _excuse me_?" Chloe shrilled, jumping back in. "I _do_ get to say whatever I want, because I'm better than all of you. Just one call to my daddy and I could have you expelled for saying that!"

"No, Chloe, you couldn't," Adrien said as he got his foot in the conversation. Mireille blushed, but for once Marinette didn't seem to notice his entrance. "You shouldn't say things like that, either. It's not right." Chloe huffed.

"But _Adrikins!_ " she whined.

"No. No buts. You owe Marinette _and_ Mireille an apology." He turned to the two girls smiling. "Right?" Marinette was still fuming as she stared at Chloe and remained unresponsive. Mireille, on the other hand, flushed further and looked like she was about to cry. Adrien _really_ hoped he wouldn't have to deal with two akuma today. Or at least, if he did, it wouldn't be Marinette. He had a feeling that a fight with her wouldn't be easy, or end very well for him.

Chloe made a noise of complaint and, in one last act of defiance, picked a cup out of the hands of a bystander, poured the contents down the front of Marinette's shirt. Marinette squealed and Chloe grinned wickedly.

"CHLOE!" Adrien chastised, but she was already on her way out.

"What? At least now she has _some_ taste," the blonde said as she threw her head back and laughed. Sabrina gave a high pitch titter beside her as they began to walk away.

" _Why you_ -" Adrien barely had time to react and restrain Alya from launching herself at Chloe.

"Whoa, Alya, easy there! You don't need to get suspended again!" Alya stopped straining against him, but he felt as if he released her she'd go tearing off after the blonde girl again. Better to keep a hold of her until Nino got to the front of the crowd so he could calm her down.

"Are you alright, Marinette?" he asked over his shoulder. The pigtailed girl stopped fussing with her shirt to look at him for the first time in the conversation. She opened her mouth to say something before she made eye contact and shut it with a squeak. Her face immediately turned red and her eyes grew wide as she realized just exactly _who_ was asking the question.

"Um-I –no, I MEAN YES! It's just-"

"… didn't have to do that," a quiet voice broke in. Adrien released his hold on Alya as they both turned to see the source.

"Mireille?" Marinette asked.

"You didn't have to do that," the other girl repeated.

"Girl, it's no biggie," Alya said as the last vestiges of irritation left her and she went to stand beside her friend. " _Somebody_ needs to-"

"I was fine on my own!" Everyone jumped a little in surprise at the outburst from the normally quiet girl. Adrien could see the tears forming in the corners of her eyes, their spill imminent. "I-I'm not a baby! I don't need you to fight my battles for me, Marinette! And especially not in front of-" her eyes flickered to Adrien for a moment before going back to staring resolutely at the ground.

"Oh, Mireille…" Marinette started, her voice contrite and full of understanding. She reached her hand out, only for Mireille to knock it away.

"Just-just _leave me alone!_ " tears began to fall as she pushed her way through the small crowd of students and scrambled towards the back of the building. Marinette looked like she wanted to go after the girl, but Alya put her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Let's give her some space," the redhead told her. Marinette nodded and turned towards the school exit. "Alright, nothing to see here! Go home!" Alya's voice carried over the courtyard as the group dispersed. The blogger slung her arm around Marinette's shoulder as she guided her home to get cleaned up. Adrien lifted his hand towards them, intending to call out, but thought better of it. Marinette already wasn't comfortable around him. She definitely wouldn't want him around when her shirt was soaked and sticky. He sighed and let his arm drop.

"Bro!" Nino's voice called out from behind him.

"Hey, Nino." Said DJ came up and offered a fist, which Adrien gladly bumped.

"That was… intense," Nino said and Adrien nodded.

"Yeah. I hope both of them are alright…." Adrien really didn't want to fight either girl as an akuma, not because he minded but because it made him uncomfortable to see such sweet girls so hurt. He had felt the same way when Rose had been akumatized. It just felt wrong for such gentle people to be used as… weapons. Granted, Marinette had a spark in her, but even with his limited knowledge of the girl he could tell she would feel if she hurt innocent people while her body wasn't under her control.

"Don't worry about it, dude," Nino consoled him. "If anything happens, Cat Noir and Ladybug'll be on the case."

 _Yeah_ , Adrien thought _, that's what I'm worried about_.

* * *

It was ten minutes later when they heard the screaming. Adrien and Nino had been working through some physics problems in the library when all hell seemed to break loose downstairs. Both boys looked at each other before bolting out the doors to see what had caused the noise. Looking down into the courtyard, in a crater in the pavement stood…

" _Chun Li_?!" Adrien said incredulously. Indeed, the akuma standing before him bore a very strong resemblance to the character from one of his favorite fighting games. White boots, red leggings, hair done up in buns. The only noticeable differences were the mask covering the girl's face and the gleaming comb in her hair.

" _Where is Marinette Dupain-Cheng?_ " the villain screeched. Oh, no. _Mireille_. And she was after Marinette! He had to get to his friend before the akuma did. He yelled some sort of excuse to Nino as he bolted off to find some place safe to transform. As soon as Adrien ducked around a corner, he called for his transformation. Plagg didn't even have time to complain about cheese before Cat Noir was bounding across the street to the bakery. He landed on Marinette's balcony and threw open the trap door, dropping inside immediately.

"Princess, we need to-" whatever Adrien had been about to say died in his throat at he took in the sight before him. Marinette had her back to him, her hair slick and wet from a shower, and _almost completely naked_. She was still wearing her panties and had some sort of shirt or night gown pressed to her chest, but Adrien could see _far_ more of her than he was used to. He vaguely noticed her shoulders turning red and brought his eyes back up to her face. The only words that could describe her expression were _shame_ and _absolute horror_.

 _Oh,_ he thought. _Oh crap._

* * *

Of all the ways Marinette thought her day was going to end, her superhero partner seeing her half-naked as her civilian identity was not one of them. She could see the realization dawn on his face as they both steadily turned deeper shades of red. Just as she was about to open her mouth to scream something (most likely some unintelligible screeching), a loud crash came from downstairs startling them both. Cat shook his head vigorously before looking her in the eyes.

"AKUMA!" he yelled. "DOWNSTAIRS! AFTER YOU! NEED TO LEAVE!" Cat's face was as reed as Nathaniel's hair at this point and he seemed incapable of forming complete sentences. He held out his hand for her to take, seemingly trying to get this over with as soon as possible. Marinette bashfully and pulled her arms a little tighter to her chest.

"Can I put on some clothes first?" she said meekly. Cat's face somehow turned even redder as he realized his blunder. He stiffly turned around.

"OF COURSE!" Marinette's hands trembled slightly as she slipped the shift in her hands over her head. Once it covered her hips she looked to her chaise where Tikki hid and signaled for her to come and hide in her hair. The kwami zipped over behind Cat's back and huddled against Marinette's neck. Just as the girl was about to see if she could find anything that could cover her a little…. more, there was another crash downstairs and Cat Noir had turned around again.

"Are you ready?" he asked, his voice somewhat squeaky but his volume now under control. Marinette nodded before a thought struck her.

"My parents…"

"I'm sure they're fine," Cat said as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against his chest. "Ladybug and I will check on them later, you need to get to safety _now_." He seemed to become more cam as he slipped into 'hero mode,' but Marinette was getting more and more flustered. His forearm was wrapped around her backside and his had gripped her exposed thigh. Her arms were braced against him and if she leaned over too far she'd be slung over his shoulder. He was as careful as he could be not to jostle her as he slipped out of her room and onto her balcony. He extended his baton and sent them flying across the Paris skyline. They were already a few houses away when her roof exploded and out came…. _was that Chun Li?!_ Did Hawk Moth have no concept of copyright?! Granted, she probably shouldn't be thinking these kinds of things during an akuma attack, but anything that distracted her from the feel of her partner pulling her towards him was a welcome distraction.

Marinette felt Tikki shiver beneath her hair. _I'd better find some place to transform, and fast!_

* * *

Adrien was having trouble concentrating because Marinette was _right there_ and _half naked_ and _damp_ and _she smelled nice too!_ Now, Adrien would never betray his lady. Marinette may be a princess, but Ladybug was queen of his heart and he was nothing if not loyal. HOWEVER. He was also a teenage boy, and nobody could deny how pretty Marinette was. Her hair seemed darker than normal as it still hadn't completely dried from the shower. Her blush seemed to make her freckles stand out and _damn_ if that wasn't adorable! And what she was wearing? Aside from the words _practically nothing_ her outfit could be described as a white and pink polka dotted shift with pale pink lacey trim, which matched her lacey pink underwear _because of course it did_. Adrien happened to get an eyeful of said underwear every time he looked to the right because her shift _barely covered anything!_

Adrien really needed to find someplace to put Marinette down and soon, because if he didn't he was going to get distracted (well, _more_ distracted) and fall and Mireille- or Assailant, as she was calling her self- was going to catch up to them and Ladybug _still_ hadn't shown up and _Marinette had a freckle on her thigh right next to his face and it was very distracting!_

Suddenly, Adrien found himself in a familiar area. There was a warehouse with brightly painted doors coming into view. When had he been here before? Warehouse…. Paint… artist…. Theo's workshop! Adrien looked behind to see that Assailant had fallen back far enough for him to slip in to an open window and deposit Marinette on the floor.

Her legs wobbled a bit as she clung to his arms and he could feel her shivering. It was then Adrien realized that Marinette was wearing practically nothing and it was _spring_. It wasn't a very chilly day, but Marinette was barley dressed, still damp from her shower, and had just spent the past ten minutes flying across the roofs of Paris without a jacket. Of course she'd be cold!

"Sorry, Princess," he said as he drew her a bit closer and rubbed his hands up and down her arms to give her some of his warmth. She looked up at him with her wide doe-eyes and he almost choked. Composing himself, he said "I probably should've given you some time to grab a blanket or something, huh?" An ashamed, sheepish smile crept across his face as they both began to flush again at their close contact.

"Y-yeah…" She looked away and shivered again. Adrien felt horrible. He scanned the workshop for something, anything, when his eyes landed on a sculpture covered in a tarp. He walked over to it and pulled the tarp away before wrapping the cloth around Marinette's shoulders.

"I guess this'll have to do…. Sorry again."

"It's okay," she replied, looking him in the eye for the first time since the start of the ordeal. He couldn't help but linger on how she beautiful she looked right then. Their eyes met and he felt…something. "You should probably go take care of the akuma now, though. Ladybug is probably waiting." She flushed and looked down, breaking the moment. He shook his head clear, fixing his mind on the problem at hand, the _reason_ they were in this situation to begin with.

"Right. I'll come back to get you later, Princess," he said taking her hand and landing a kiss on her knuckles before bounding back outside. He didn't catch her face lighting up at the chaste gesture, nor did he notice the kwami that flew out of Marinette's hair give her charge a sidelong glance and a knowing smile.


	3. Chapter 3

Marinette took a minute to compose herself. Not because Cat Noir had flustered her, of course. She was just embarrassed. That's why her cheeks were red as a fire engine, it was the only reason, there was no other explanation so _stop looking at me like that, Tikki!_ Marinette took one last deep breath to calm herself. If Cat Noir could swallow his embarrassment to do his job, so could she.

"Tikki, spots on!" she said, dropping the tarp Cat had wrapped around her shoulders. She could hear him outside right now, fighting the akuma, but the sounds were getting quieter. He must be trying to lure Assailant away from Marinette. She smiled fondly before vaulting out the window

Marinette exited out the opposite side of the warehouse, careful that neither Cat nor the akuma saw her. It wouldn't do for Ladybug to appear from a building that Marinette was supposed to be alone in. She went over a few streets before doubling back and coming from a different direction.

Finally coming upon the fight, Marinette took stock of the situation. Cat had managed to lead Assailant a good five blocks away from Theo's workshop and was doing his best to keep her at bay. There were several craters in the road and nearby buildings from the villain's attacks, but it looked like she hadn't managed to land a clean hit on the cat-eared superhero. As Cat dodged a devastating helicopter hit, his eyes landed on his partner. Marinette put her finger to her lips and he nodded, getting her message.

"So, I mean, I know you're from Street Fighter and all, but do you really have to fight the _street_?" Cat taunted as Assailant tried to pull her foot from the wall she had embedded it in. It was even more awkward since she was upside down. The martial artist growled and, planting her free foot on the building, kicked off and launched herself at the jeering hero. She didn't notice the spotted heroine slip from the rooftops and into an alleyway, nor did she hear Marinette quietly call for her Lucky Charm over her own frustrated screams.

"You won't stop me! I _will_ get Marinette! I'll show her I can fight my own battles!"

Marinette cringed as she held the item her magic had conjured and made a note to apologize to Mireille later. You know, _after_ the quiet girl was herself again and _not_ trying to knock Marinette's head off. Pulling her attention back to the matter at hand, the hero looked at her Lucky Charm and groaned inwardly. _Why_ , oh _why_ could Tikki never give her something straightforward to work with? What was she going to do with a _blanket?_ She sighed and peeked out of the alleyway, trying to figure out a way to use the Charm effectively. She saw… Cat's tail, a bike rack and.. a dumpster! And the akuma _had_ to be in the hair comb. It was the only thing that didn't match with the Chun Li aesthetic.

Plan in mind, she slipped the blanket under her arm and stepped out onto the street and swung her yo-yo at Assailant's ankles, throwing her off balance. "Now, now," Marinette chided, "animal cruelty is one thing that I just _won't_ stand for!" she pulled hard on her yo-yo, dragging Assailant to the ground. Hawk Moth's mark appeared around her eyes and the girl growled.

" _Ladybug!_ "

She screeched, grabbed the string and flung Marinette at her partner. She landed on him with an _oof_ , but he absorbed most of the shock himself. The yo-yo string unwound and both heroes stood with weapons in hand..

"Nice to see you, milady," Cat drawled, and Marinette couldn't help but roll her eyes at his flirtatious tone. "Though, if you _really_ wanted to save this poor alley cat _fur_ om animal cruelty, you could just take me home," he said with a coy wink.

"Not now, kitty, we have an akuma to catch. I'm thinking it's in her-"

"Comb?"

"Exactly. Now follow my lead."

The pair worked seamlessly, dodging and parrying Assailant's blows. Finally, Marinette was able to use her yo-yo to knock the comb off of the villains' head. Before Assailant could move to get it back, Marinette called out to her partner.

"Cat Noir, _now!_ " she said, brandishing* the blanket. The leather clad boy easily pushed Assailant towards her and soon the akuma was wrapped in the blanket. Marinette snatched Cat's tail to quickly wrapped it around the other girl, securing her. Then, Assailant was knocked over the bike rack and into the dumpster, trapped. Ignoring the thrashing coming from the plastic bin, Marinette leisurely walked over to the akumatized object and stomped on it, releasing the offending insect. After that, it was a short matter to cleanse and release it. As soon as it was safe, Cat Noir helped the de-akumatizing Mireille out of the dumpster and tossed Marinette the blanket for her to finish of the healing spell. As everything was whisked back to normal, Marinette walked up to her partner, fist raised.

" _Pound it!_ " they both said, Cat smiling and meeting her halfway.

As the boy's eyes wandered to Mireille, he stiffened and his smile fell, as if he was remembering something important.

"Uh- well-um," he stuttered backing away, "as much as I enjoy our time together, milady I have a bit of an, uh, _situation_ to attend to so-" Situation? What situate- _OH. THAT._

"WAIT!" Marinette yelled, trying to find some way to stall him. "You need to, uh, take care of the victim! Yeah, cause I can't, see?" she showed him her earrings, hoping he wouldn't see the panicked look on her face. There was a small beep and she was down to one dot. "I'm about to change back!" she yelled unnecessarily.

"But-"

"I'm counting on you!" Marinette said as she whipped herself away, hoping desperately Cat wouldn't notice she was heading in the same direction that he had hidden her civilian self.

* * *

Adrien took a deep breath as he prepared himself to go into the workshop the get Marinette. A damp, half- naked Marinette that was wearing lacey underwear- _FOCUS!_ He dropped down before his mind could wander any further. Marinette was cold and he needed to get her home as soon as he could. He could deal with…. _whatever_ this was later. Preferably when his pretty classmate was clothed and not so distracting- _damnit!_ He mentally smacked himself.

"Hey there, Princess," he said. He cursed inwardly at the shakiness of his own voice. Now that the akuma had been dealt with, it was much harder to keep his resolve. Marinette was on the floor in the middle of the workshop, huddled in the tarp. She looked up at the sound of his voice and flushed deeply. Adrien didn't need a mirror to know that he was turning red as well.

"H-hey, Cat Noir," she answered through her embarrassment. They stayed like that for a moment before he coughed awkwardly.

"I should- I should probably get you home now." Adrien cringed inwardly at his own inability to keep his voice steady. Marinette nodded briefly and he scooped her up in his arms, this time careful about where his hands landed. He felt Marinette curl into him and he _tried_ \- really, _really tried_ \- to keep from smelling her again, but she was too close. The scent of vanilla and strawberries invaded his nose as he leapt out of the workshop and onto the roofs of Paris. He _tried_ not to think about how soft she felt, even through the rough fabric of the tarp. He tried, tried, _tried_ not to think about how blue her eyes were as he set her down on her balcony, the setting sun and her red cheeks seeming to make them glow.

Needless to say, Adrien did not succeed.

When she finally made eye contact with him again, her teeth biting down on her bottom lip, Adrien _broke_. He stiffened, muttered something unintelligible, before bolting off her balcony as fast as he could.

As the sun set, both teens unknowingly shared one thought:

 _There's_ no way _this could get any more embarrassing!_

* * *

Adrien groaned as he flopped down onto his pillow, releasing his transformation. Of all the stupid things he had done, this really took the cake. Even if he had been on a time crunch, he'd invaded his friend's privacy and seen her in a….. compromising position that she _definitely_ wasn't comfortable with. Marinette was already skittish around him to begin with. He didn't think he could handle her hating his superhero identity for this, and if she ever figured out Cat Noir and Adrien were one and the same…

He groaned louder.

"Hey, kid."

Silence.

"KID."

 _Maybe if I ignore him, he'll leave me alone._ Adrien _really_ didn't want to hear his kwami's opinion on this. He could already hear the ribbing he was going to get about walking in on his 'girlfriend,' but Plagg was never one to be ignored.

" _Adrieeeen!_ " the kwami wined, tugging on his chosen's hair.

"Plagg, please. Leave me to my _suffering._ "

"Suffer later. Cheese now!" Adrien gave a glum sigh before rolling off of his bed and to the intercom to make an order for Plagg's smelly* camembert. As soon as that was done, he trudged back over and sagged down onto his bed again. He heard a soft groan as he vaguely registered a small black figure descending in front of him.

"Why are you so upset? It isn't that big a deal." Adrien's head jerked up.

"What do you _mean_ it's not a big deal?! Marinette's my friend and I… I…." he trailed off, face going bright red.

"Saw her naked," Plagg supplied. Adrien let out a small whine and buried his face in his hands.

"How am I going to look her in the eye at school tomorrow?"

"I dunno, that'll be pretty hard considering she sits behind you," the kwami said with a snicker.

"Plagg, this is serious!" the boy said, sitting up.

"Seriously funny, you mean."

"Plagg!"

The kwami gave Adrien a dry stare as he floated up to eye level.

"Okay, kid, look. I don't really _do_ this whole… mushy _feelings_ nonsense. Not my style. But if this _really_ bothers you…." Plagg seemed to be trying to look anywhere but at Adrien, his discomfort showing, "I _guess_ I could listen…. just a bit," he finished, closing his eyes for a moment before finally meeting Adrien's gaze. The teen could see his friend's obvious discomfort, but also a genuine willingness to hear him out.

"Really?"

"If you're gonna talk, do it before I change my mind," the immortal being said with a scowl. Adrien smiled a bit before speaking again.

"Well, I guess I just… I want to make this up to her somehow, you know? I know that I kinda make her uncomfortable as Adrien," Plagg almost choked when he heard that, but Adrien either didn't notice or didn't care (most likely the former) and kept going, "but I can deal with that. I can't deal with her not liking Cat Noir either. _Especially_ over an accident."

Plagg looked at his charge and was once again _floored_ by how oblivious the boy could be. Plagg was lazy, disinterested, and stuck in a _bag_ all day and even _he_ could see that Marinette had a crush on Adrien. How emotionally stunted could the kid get?! Then again, with a father like Gabriel, what more could you expect? So, gathering up all of his ancient wisdom, born from millennia of guiding one chosen after another, he gave this divine acumen:

"Give her cheese."

Adrien looked flabbergasted for a moment before sighing and slouching in resignation.

"I can't believe I actually thought you would take this seriously," the boy said dryly.

"Hey!" the kwami declared indignantly. "Don't knock it till you try it! It always works for me when I'm in trouble."

"With who?" Adrien questioned.

"Who do you think? Tikki, Ladybug's kwami."

"You know Ladybug's kwami?"

"Of course I do, and we're getting off topic. Just give your girlfriend some cheese, it'll be _fine._ "

"She's not my girlfriend!" Adrien protested, scowling. Then, a thoughtful look passed over his face and he broke out into a broad smile. "But I _can_ get her a gift! Thanks Plagg, you're the best!"

"I know. Now where's my camembert?"

* * *

Marinette groaned into her pillow, still unable to believe what had happened that day. Cat, her friend, her _partner_ , had seen her almost naked! She wanted to crawl into a hole and _die_.

"It's not that bad, Marinette," Tikki said, munching on a cookie from her stash. It was about an hour after…. the _incident_ and Marinette was now clothed, dry, and drowning in shame. She let out a pitiable whine.

"Okay, it was pretty bad," her kwami conceded, "but it could have been worse!" Marinette turned her head slightly to give the pink creature a baleful look.

"How? How could it have _possibly_ been _worse_?"

"Well, Cat Noir could have found out you're Ladybug." Tikki was obviously trying to be helpful. She was not succeeding. At the thought of her partner finding out it was _her_ he had seen, of being stripped of the anonymity of her mask, she flushed scarlet and went back to trying to smother herself. Because it was inevitable, really. One day, Cat Noir _would_ learn her identity. Preferably it would happen after Hawk Moth's defeat, but it would still _happen_. It wasn't that she didn't _want_ Cat to know who she was, she did. She really, really did. He was one of her best friends. She wanted to hang out with him without having to worry about super villains. She wanted to introduce him to Alya and Nino and Adrien and just _have fun_. The only real reason that she hadn't told him yet was the danger of Hawk Moth finding out, and maybe a small part of her that kept saying she wasn't good enough. Marinette tried to squash that voice whenever it reared its ugly head, but she still felt inadequate at times.

"Come on, Marinette, be positive!" the kwami chirped.

"I'm _positive_ that this is the worst day of my life," Marinette answered, her voice muffled by her pillow. She felt a small pressure on her cheek and looked over to find Tikki there, a comforting look in her eyes. Marinette sighed and gave a diminutive smile. How was she supposed to mope when Tikki looked at her like that? It wasn't fair. The girl sighed and bundled her pillow under her chin.

"I just don't know how I'm going to look at him again, you know? I mean, it was easy to forget about…. what happened when we were fighting the akuma, but what about any other time we hang out together? _He_ might not know it was me that he walked in on, but _I_ do, and that just makes it worse because I can't even talk to him about it! Gah, this is so embarrassing!" Tikki remained silent through her tirade and offered a knowing grin.

"I can't make this better for you, Marinette," the kwami said, putting her tiny fin on her chosen's cheek, "but I can listen, whenever you need me to. I know you're mature enough to get over this. Yes, it was embarrassing, but even if Cat Noir _does_ find out you're Ladybug, would he think any less of you for this?"

"No," Marinette said shaking her head, "he wouldn't."

"Exactly. He made a mistake and saw you in a vulnerable position, but you weren't doing anything to be ashamed of, and he didn't mean any harm. The friendship you two share isn't so weak that it will break apart because of a little mishap like this." Marinette sat up and cradled Tikki in her hands before planting a small kiss on the kwami's forehead.

"Thanks, Tikki. You said you can't make it better, but I feel like you kind of did." The two giggled, and Marinette nuzzled Tikki's small head.

 _I can do this_ , Marinette thought. _I'm Ladybug, I can totally handle-_

 _Knock-knock_.

The sound came from her balcony. Tikki swiftly flew under the covers to hide as Marinette went to see who could possibly be visiting her in her balcony. Slowly, she opened the trap door to see-

"Cat Noir?" Sure enough, there he was. The cat-themed superhero was crouched on her balcony, ears drooping, face flushed and one hand behind his back. He looked the picture of contriteness.

"Hey, Princess," he said, barely able to meet her eyes. Marinette could feel herself flushing. "I knocked this time." They both chuckled a bit before slipping into awkward silence. Marinette felt a soft head butt against her abdomen, Tikki's way of telling her to say something. She swallowed.

"So, what's one of Paris' superheroes doing on my balcony?" She already knew the answer, but he looked like he needed an opening.

"Well, um, I just, well…" He was stammering wildly, his head down, and his eyes kept darting around, trying to focus on anything but her. Finally, his eyes squeezed shut and the hand behind his back shot out to shove something almost directly in Marinette's face. "I'M SORRY!" he said. "I know I needed to get you to safety fast but I didn't mean to see you like that and I can't tell you how much I regret it, not the saving you part, but the seeing you part, not that seeing you is a bad thing, but _seeing_ you-"

Marinette put a finger to his lips to stop his ranting and giggled.

 _God, he's almost as bad as I am with Adrien._

"It's alright, Cat," she said, enjoying the surprised look on his face even after she let her hand fall. "I know you didn't mean any harm and-" Belatedly, Marinette realized what had been shoved into her face. Her lips formed a small 'o' of surprise as she delicately removed a bouquet of flowers from Cat's hand. It was full of purple and white blossoms with a cream silk ribbon tying it together. Cat seemed to take her stunned silence as disapproval as he started rambling again.

"It's fine if you don't like them, but I just felt like I had to get you something. I know flowers are kind of romantic and I don't want to give you the wrong idea, but I don't know you very well so I don't know what else to get you, 'cause I know you like sweets but you live on top of a bakery and it wouldn't be very polite to give you something from someplace else and if I gave you something from your family's _own_ bakery I might as well just give you money, and oh God, that would _really_ give you the wrong idea and-"

Marinette put her finger to his lips again and giggled, cradling the bouquet in her free arm.

"I love them, Cat. Thank you."

"So you're… not mad?" he said almost hopefully after her hand fell a second time.

"No. As I was saying, I know you didn't mean to… walk in on me," Marinette could feel her ears turning scarlet but pressed on, "but you did it because you were worried about my safety and I can't fault you for that. I'm still embarrassed," Cat winced slightly at that, but Marinette put her hand over one of his and silently entreated him to meet her eyes before she continued, "but it was an accident and you're sorry. Even if I was mad, which I wasn't, I don't hold grudges against people who sincerely apologize." Cat's ears twitched at the last part and there was… something in his eyes that Marinette couldn't quite place, but she ignored it. It probably wasn't important and she didn't want to pry, so she just stood there, her grip on his gloved hand tightening slightly as she patiently waited for him to gather his thoughts. Slowly, a smile broke out onto his face that grew bigger and bigger until the leather-clad boy was positively beaming.

"Thank you, Princess- no, thank you, Marinette. That… means a lot to me." His brilliant green eyes drilled into hers with some strange intensity and it was now his turn to tighten the grip of their joined hands. They stayed like that for a moment, looking at each other, until both teens realized that they were still holding hands and jumped apart, red-faced. Marinette was sure that her cheeks could give the sun a run for its money with how warm they had gotten throughout this conversation.

"So," Cat Noir said, shifting uneasily, "see you around?"

"Yeah," Marinette answered, looking at him through the corner of her eye as she held the flowers close. "See you around." With that, the feline hero stood up, gave his signature two fingered salute, and vaulted off to the rooftops of Paris. Marinette's eyes followed him as he went, lingering just a bit longer than she really should have before sighing and closing the trap door.

"Let me see the flowers, Marinette!" Tikki squealed, twirling around the girl's head as she sunk down onto the bed.

"Aright," the teen giggled. "No need to be so _pushy_." Marinette lightly poked her kwami's head as they both laughed quietly. Soon, Tikki was looking at the bouquet in Marinette's hands with an amused interest. The little god laughed again and gave Marinette one of her knowing looks.

"What's so funny, Tikki?"

"Marinette, do you know the language of flowers?"

The teen shook her head. "No. I mean, I know what it is, but I don't really know what all the plants mean. Why, is there a message in the bouquet?"

"Yes," the kwami answered, looking very pleased with herself. "Do you want me to show you?" Marinette wasn't sure how she felt about her tiny friend's obvious delight over the situation, but she was curious. So, biting her lip, she nodded and the kwami beamed before going into her impromptu lesson.

First, she pointed to small purple flowers with six petals. "These are violets, they symbolize modesty. Then there are the iris'," she said, moving on to another purple flower. "These mean a few things, but I think the one Cat Noir meant was _I treasure our friendship_." Marinette was a bit surprised at this. Sure, as Ladybug, Cat was one of her best friends, but he didn't know Marinette like that. Why would he put those flowers in the bouquet, then? Tikki ignored her charge's confusion and continued. "Next are purple hyacinth. They mean _forgive me_." Marinette nodded as she looked at the bunched up purple flowers. That made a lot more sense. "Then the gladiolus," Tikki said, pointing to white blossoms trailing up a single stem. "They mean sincerity and _please forgive me_." Marinette smiled. Did that silly cat really need to ask for her forgiveness twice in the same bouquet? He was such a dork. "Finally, the baby's breath. The mean innocence and purity of heart." Marinette ran her fingers over one of the many tiny white flowers sprinkled throughout the bouquet. Each blossom was beautiful, and if Tikki was right, Cat had picked out each one with its meaning in mind, just for her. It warmed her heart, just a bit.

"Thanks, Tikki," Marinette said after a moment of silent contemplation. "I'm going to go put these in some water." As the blue-eyed girl got up to go find a vase for her newly acquired flowers, Tikki sank down onto the mattress with a fond smile. Master Fu had chosen well. Her and Plagg's chosen were sweet, kind, and utterly adorable. She couldn't wait to see what happened next.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello! I just wanted to say a few things.**

 **First, thank you to everyone who has read this fic or written a review. I read every one, even if I'm not good at replying. It makes me smile every time I see that someone has left a comment on my story!**

 **Second, I'm sort of going with the flow as I write this fic. I have a vague idea of where I want it to go, but I'm not quite sure how I'm getting there, so we'll see how that goes!**

 **Third, I'm going to try to be consistent with updates. I have an awesome beta reader and even if he isn't pressuring me or asking me to meet deadlines, the fact that I have someone willing to look over my work, along with all of the people enjoying my story, is helping me stay motivated! That said, I want to give quality chapters to you guys, so if I don't update once a week, don't freak out! I am determined to finish this fic.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Adrien sighed as he flopped on his bed, releasing his transformation. He stared at the ceiling with a pensive look on his face.

"Oh, what is it _now_?" Plagg whined, already drained from all of the mushy _feelings_ that had been dealt with that day. "You said sorry to your girlfriend, and she forgave you. What's the problem?"

"She's _not_ my girlfriend," Adrien insisted. "And besides, that _is_ the problem!"

"Can I have some cheese? Cheese is less complicated."

"Plagg!"

"Alright, alright, I'm listening." The kwami grumbled something under his breath that Adrien didn't quite catch before putting an exaggerated 'concerned' look on his face. " _What could possibly be wrong, my dear, sweet, lovesick idiot?_ " he drawled. Adrien decided to ignore that last part and focus on the matter at hand.

"You heard her, right? Marinette said she doesn't hold grudges against people who apologize, so why didn't she forgive _me_?"

"She _did_ forgive you, we've been over this! I even had to sit through you picking out _flowers_." Plagg gagged at the memory and Adrien gave him a withering look.

"Not Cat me, _Adrien_ me! I can tell she doesn't like me. She can hardly look me in the eye and she hardly ever says two words to me! The only times I can have a normal conversation with me is when she's distracted."

"And you think this is because she's mad at you for something," Plagg deadpanned. Adrien either didn't notice his tone or chose to ignore it. Either way, the boy continued.

"YES!"

Plagg raised his eyes to the heavens in exasperation. Why was _he_ always stuck with the lovesick ones? " _Why?_ What _possible_ reason could that girl have for being mad at you?" The cat-like creature both awaited and dreaded his chosen's response.

"The chewing gum incident!"

Plagg groaned internally. "You apologized for that," the kwami reminded.

"Yeah, and she can still barely stand to be in the same room with me," Adrien said with a pout..

Plagg wanted to bang his head against the wall. At least it would be more productive than talking to his chosen. The wall was probably less dense, too. He decided to try and push the boy in the right direction _one more time_ before giving up, at least for now. "Can you _really_ not think of _any other reason_ that could _possibly_ make her nervous in front of you?" There, he'd even dropped a hint. Tikki would be proud.

"No I ca- wait, she's nervous?"

" _Ding ding ding!_ Give the boy a prize!" Plagg said sarcastically as he swooped around Adrien's head. Adrien put his hand to his chin and Plagg could see the gears turning in his mind.

 _Is it because I'm rich?_ Adrien thought. _No, it can't be because of my status. Marinette isn't like that. Besides, she deals with Chloe all the time, just like today. She doesn't care about that sort of thing at all. Is it because of my father? She does look up to him a lot. No, that's not right, either. She was fine in front of him during the hat competition. Well, not_ in front _of him because he wasn't actually_ there _, but…. Is it…. Is it because I'm good looking?_ Adrien felt vain for even entertaining the thought, but there were many girls who were intimidated by his looks. _No,_ he decided. _Marinette's so pretty, I can't imagine her getting nervous about that. Besides, she isn't the type of person to care about looks either. So what is it?_

As Adrien's mind ran in circles, Plagg decided that he'd done enough for one night and glided to his designated drawer. There was room for him on Adrien's bed, of course, but if the boy wasn't tossing and turning, he was snuggling. Plagg wasn't exactly opposed to cuddles, but he preferred them while _awake_ and _not_ being almost crushed by a teenage boy several dozen times his size.

Adrien, meanwhile, had come to a conclusion. He needed to find out what it was about him that made Marinette so jumpy. If it was because she generally disliked him, there wasn't much he could do. He tried not to think too hard about this option, not only because it hurt, but because it seemed less and less likely the more he thought about Marinette and all of the things she did for him. If she avoided him because of anything else, he would do something about it. Marinette was an amazing person and he wanted to get closer to her. He needed to investigate.

 _Tomorrow,_ he thought. _Tomorrow, I'm going to get to the bottom of this._

* * *

Adrien was not getting to the bottom of this.

He wanted to say that it wasn't his fault, but it was. It really, really was. True, Marinette was still acting jumpy around him, but he should have been able to get her alone at least once. Key word being _should_. As in, _in theory_. In reality, Adrien was having as hard a time looking at Marinette as she normally did around him. Every time he looked at her he just couldn't help but remember what had happened the day before. The fact that she didn't know it was _him_ who saw her half naked in a compromising position just made it _worse_. He could only _imagine_ how she would react if she knew _Adrien_ was the one who saw her in her underwear _in a compromising position_. Add to that the fact that, no matter how hard he was trying to repress the memory, the act of thinking about not thinking about it made it so _that_ was all that he could think about!

Even he was starting to get confused by the circles his mind was running in.

Adrien sighed and tried to at least give _some_ of his attention to Ms Bustier, but Marinette's presence behind him was very distracting. He could only thank his lucky stars that no one had gotten a good picture of her yesterday. Sure, most people at the school knew she had been targeted by an akuma and there was no shame in that- most everyone had needed to be rescued by Paris' lucky duo at one point or another. However, there was a large difference between being rescued and being rescued _in your underwear_. Adrien was willing to bet money that not even Alya had been privy to _that_ detail.

So, no one in the school knew that Marinette had anything to be embarrassed about except Cat Noir. Cat Noir, who was Adrien and sat in front of her but couldn't _say_ anything about what happened. Yes, she'd forgiven him and there wasn't anything _to_ talk about, but the fact that he _couldn't_ just made the desire to do so more tangible. It also made him feel guilty, to have her look at him and not _know_ that he'd seen what he'd seen.

It had been so much less complicated last night. Talking to her had been embarrassing for sure, but it had made him feel something he hadn't felt in a while; he felt like himself. He'd always felt repressed as Adrien, so it was nice to cut loose as Cat Noir and do whatever he wanted. At the same time, his superhero persona wasn't the real him either. He tended to overcompensate with his emotions and act far cockier than he really was. Not to say that Cat Noir wasn't him, it was just… it was like posting something on the internet. It was still him, expressing how he felt, but just because he felt that way didn't always mean he was comfortable sharing those thoughts with other people, even if there was nothing to be ashamed of.

Marinette made him forget about that, even if it was just for a few minutes, and it made him even more determined to get closer to her. But he should probably wait a day or two to let his embarrassment cool off.

* * *

 _What am I doing?_ Adrien thought as he sat on the rooftop across the street from the Dupain-Cheng bakery. It was almost four days since Assailant's attack and he still hadn't been able to get closer to Marinette. Every time he tried to talk to her, one of them would freeze up. Sometimes it was Marinette being shy, but other times it was him. As hard as he tried putting the incident out of his mind, there were certain things she did or ways she moved that would remind him. Once it was when she let her hair down and the smell of her shampoo wafted into his nose. Another time their hands had touched as they both reached to pick up some fallen papers and he couldn't help but think about how soft her skin was. Honestly, it was getting ridiculous.

Marinette was his friend. His nice, pretty, brave friend, but a friend nonetheless. She didn't deserve to be ogled because he couldn't control his hormones! She deserved better than that, especially since Adrien had never thought about her like this until now. In fact, the _only_ girl he'd ever thought about _like that_ was Ladybug- who he was still very much in love with! Every stray thought seemed like some small betrayal to his Lady, even if she probably wouldn't care. Even so, the stress of the situation just kept weighing on his mind more and more, so when Adrien's father flaked on spending time with him again this evening, he'd wanted to be anywhere but home.

He sighed again. It was getting dark, though it was hard to see the sunset through the quickly gathering rain clouds. He really should be getting home now, before it started coming down. If he didn't Plagg would get wet and even if the kwami didn't get sick, he'd still give Adrien an earful for keeping the both of them out in that kind of weather. So that settled it. He was going home. He was going to go home, and get straight to-

"Cat Noir?"

Adrien's head popped up at the sound, quickly finding the source. Marinette was standing on her balcony, staring at him. Not wanting to be rude, Adrien plastered a smile onto his face before leaping over to join her.

"Why hello, Princess," he said, sitting on her railing. "How are you _feline_ this evening?" Marinette pursed her lips while her blue eyes searched him intently, and Adrien felt like she was appraising him in some way.

"Are you okay?" she asked without any preamble. Adrien jolted a bit at the question, surprised that anyone other than Nino or Ladybug could see through him so easily. There was a moment of hesitation and he opened his mouth to say _of course_ he was alright, he was one of Paris' heroes, nothing could bring him down! Then he took a look into Marinette's sky-blue eyes and… he just couldn't bring himself to lie to her. The thought of it made him feel dirty.

He felt himself deflate, ears drooping and his treacherous tail swishing back and forth.

"I just… couldn't stand being at my house tonight." He probably looked like a kicked kitten, moping on the roof of a girl that, for all she knew, he had only met a handful of times. Yet, when Adrien looked into Marinette's eyes, he didn't see pity. There was sympathy, of course, but he didn't feel any less for admitting his vulnerability to her. In fact, Marinette actually made him feel a bit stronger for saying it. It was like there was a force field around her that made all of the bad things seem trivial once you voiced them.

"Would you like to come in?" she said with a small smile. She was looking up at him through her lashes, and she just looked so _cute_ that Adrien wondered how anyone ever denied this girl anything.

He didn't realize how long he'd been silent until she flushed red and started rambling. "I mean-it's just-um, it's going to rain, you see, and you shouldn't be outside, so you should g o home, but you don't _want_ to go home so I thought-"

"Thank you, Marinette," he said earnestly. "I'd love to." The two teens grinned at each other for a moment before Marinette perked up again, panicking slightly.

"Um, well, I have to- can you wait a minute? There are a few things I, um…"

"Sure," Adrien chuckled. "I'm the one who came over unannounced. It wouldn't be very polite of me to just barge in-" he choked on the last word of his sentence and the pair turned red, both acutely remembering the _last_ time he had 'barged in.'

"I'll, uh, just be a minute," Marinette said, breaking the awkward silence. Adrien could only nod as he fought to contain his blush.

 _Get it together, Agreste! We went_ over _this! REPRESS! REPRESS!_

As he calmed down, Adrien could hear the sounds of Marinette tidying up her room. There was a lot more paper shuffling around than he expected. Had she been doing homework? Or maybe working on some of her designs? He was still thinking when Marinette's head popped out of the trapdoor, still slightly heated.

"Come on in."

Adrien had only really been in Marinette's room once, for the gaming tournament. Sure there had been a couple of akuma attacks- _stop thinking about the last one!_ \- but those didn't really count. Still, he couldn't say that the overwhelming amount of pink surprised him. Marinette wore the color every day. What _did_ surprise him, however, was what he saw on her bed.

"Why, Princess, I didn't know you already had another cat in your room!" Sure enough, between her pillow and the wall rested a massive white cat plushy with black stripes. Adrien gave Marinette a Cheshire grin and was rewarded by a small squeak as a light blush dusted her cheeks. Then she scowled at him and pouted good-naturedly.

"Marshmallow was here _way_ before you came onto the scene, alley cat," she grumbled before squeezing her eyes shut and sticking her tongue out at him before huffing cutely and continuing down the stairs. Consequently she missed the somewhat dumbfounded expression on Adrien's face.

 _Huh. That's new._ Of course he knew Marinette had a sassy streak a mile wide, but it had never been directed at _him_. Adrien made her too nervous, and she seemed a bit star struck by Cat Noir, except for the last time and _what part of_ repress _didn't his brain understand?!_

Marinette noticed him lingering and gave him a quizzical look.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Oh, uh, no, it's just..." _Come on, Agreste, stop freezing up! You're a superhero right now,_ not _Adrien! Act like it!_ "I was just thinking that if I get to see a different side of you every time I we meet, I should visit you more often, Princess," he said, waggling his eyebrows. It took him a moment to understand why Marinette was turning such a deep shade of red. His eyes widened. "Oh, no, _God_ no, I didn't mean it like _that!_ I would never come over just to see you- well I mean it's always nice to _see_ you, but I wouldn't want to _see you_ , not that you aren't attractive, you're very attractive! It just wouldn't be gentlemanly and-" Adrien was flushing and gesticulating wildly from halfway up the stairs while Marinette stood in front of him, hands covering her mouth and shoulders shaking. Great. He'd put his foot in his mouth again. "Maybe I should just go…" he said dejectedly as he turned to leave.

"No!" Marinette exclaimed, grabbing him by the tail. He turned to face her, surprised, and now it was _her_ turn to flounder. She dropped his tail as if it had burned her and scrambled for words. "What I mean to say is, it's going to start raining soon-" a loud clap of thunder sounded to illustrate her point, "- I mean I guess it just _started_ raining, and you don't have to leave if you don't want to!" Adrien twisted back around to face her.

" _Why?_ " he asked, astonished. Didn't she feel uncomfortable? Embarrassed? He sure did. Just because she trusted him not to try anything didn't mean it was easy to have a boy that had seen her in her underwear earlier that week stay in her room for any length of time. Add to that the fact that Adrien wasn't used to anyone other than Chloe and Nino actually _wanting_ to spend time with him and he just couldn't understand shy Marinette was so insistent that he stay.

"You said you didn't want to go home," she said simply, and Adrien almost choked on the sincerity in her eyes.

"But don't you feel-"

"I could never feel uncomfortable with you, kitty." Her soft smile seemed to light up the room, and the way she called him 'kitty' like Ladybug did wasn't helping him calm down.

Marinette seemed to realize what she had just said and quickly flushed again. There was another moment of awkward silence.

"Would you like some hot chocolate?" Marinette asked, unable to bear the silence.

"Sure!" Adrien enthused, eager to latch onto anything that could lessen the stiff atmosphere. Marinette nodded emphatically and went down through the trapdoor to the kitchen. After she left, he sagged down onto her chaise and ran a clawed hand down his face.

 _I can't believe I'm doing this._

* * *

 _I can't believe I'm doing this,_ Marinette thought as she mixed two mugs of hot chocolate in her kitchen. Cat Noir was _in her room_ , and he _shouldn't_ be there for two reasons: One, he was her superhero partner. She had _no business_ skirting around him in her civilian identity. It was just asking for trouble. Two, he was a _boy_ in her _room_ that her parents _didn't_ know about and most certainly _wasn't_ Adrien. Not that she was the kind of girl who wanted to actively _try_ to sneak Adrien into her room, even if that would be nice…

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. This was a bad idea and she knew it. She shouldn't have called out to Cat. She shouldn't have asked him to come in. She _definitely_ shouldn't have kept him from leaving. Nothing she did made any sense and yet… she couldn't just leave him. He was upset over something and obviously didn't feel comfortable talking about it with anyone. The look on his face when he told her that he didn't want to be at home just broke her heart. She wanted to hug him, comfort him, tell him it was okay, but she couldn't do that. Rather, _Marinette_ couldn't do that. _Ladybug_ would have no problem consoling her partner, but Ladybug wasn't technically there. Even if Marinette had sent Cat away so she could transform and find him, how would she explain how she knew anything was wrong? Would she even be able to find him? For all she knew, he would have headed home the minute the rain started and would be left with no one to talk to. Well, except his kwami probably, but Marinette knew that it just wasn't the same.

So, since Ladybug couldn't help him, Marinette let him in.

Marinette groaned at her stupidity and weakness to those big, green, _baby doll eyes!_ She wanted to talk to Tikki, but the small pink creature was currently hiding in one of her drawers (one of the ones _not_ stuffed with her pictures of Adrien. She didn't want to suffocate the poor thing), so Marinette just sighed and began to make her trek up the stairs with the mugs in hand. At least she didn't have to worry about her parents that evening. They'd received a big order and had to get up early the next day, so they had gone to bet after dinner.

Marinette took a deep breath at the top of the stairs to steady herself, then carefully opened the trapdoor and made her way back into her bedroom. Cat was sitting on her chaise, hands in his lap and tail swishing back and forth, clearly unsure what to do with himself. Marinette smiled fondly.

"Hey," she said and his head snapped up.

"Hey, yourself, Princess," Cat replied with a smirk as she handed him a mug. She quirked a brow, but said nothing and went to sit in her desk chair.

"Soooo…" he began eloquently.

"So."

"Do you want to… do something?" Cat squirmed a bit in his seat and Marinette realized-

"I hadn't actually thought that far." Oh, God. Had she really invited him in without a plan? What could they even talk about? She couldn't ask why he was upset, it was too personal! She couldn't really _talk_ to him either because she didn't know him well. Sure, Ladybug knew a few things, but Marinette didn't. she had hardy interacted with her partner in her civilian form. The only times they'd met were the Gamer, the Evillustrator, and Assai- yeah, they should probably _not_ talk about their past interactions. What had she been _thinking?_ Curse those baby doll eyes!

Cat, meanwhile, was sitting on the chaise watching Marinette's face as her mind flitted from one thought to the next, slowly building to a panic. He couldn't help it. He laughed.

"Wha… what's so funny?!" she cried indignantly. The offended look on her face only made him laugh harder.

"S-sorry, Princess," he said between breaths, "it- it's just- your face!" Cat was starting to break down.

"What's wrong with my face?!"

"You're just so… so… cute!" he managed to get out before he lost himself to his laughter.

"Wha-" Marinette was dumbfounded and _very_ much beginning to resent her partner for making her blush so many times in one evening. That damn alley cat! Said feline seemed to find her flabbergasted expression the most amusing one yet as he rolled of the chaise and onto her floor.

Marinette tried to stay offended, she really did, but there was something… familiar about his laughter that made it contagious and soon she was laughing too. A few minutes later, when the two teens were finished giggling, Cat looked up at her from the floor.

"Thank you, Princess. I really needed that." Marinette was surprised by the sincerity in his voice, and to her eternal chagrin he made her turn red yet _again!_ It was so much easier to brush him off as Ladybug, when he wasn't this… this… _earnest_. It was really throwing her off.

"Um, well, you're welcome, I mean, it's the least I can do, you know, after all the times you've saved me. I mean everybody! All the times you've saved _everybody!_ " Why was she stammering?! It was just Cat! Get it together, girl!

"Well," the feline superhero said as he pulled himself into a sitting position, "this humble knight would slay any foe for you, Princess." He put his hand over his heart in mock-seriousness, but it was ruined a second later when his face split into a cheshire grin and he waggled his eyebrows. Marinette couldn't help but giggle.

"You're such a drama queen!" the two laughed a bit more before silence fell on them again. It wasn't awkward like the first few times. This was more companionable, like a rest. They even managed to pick up their forgotten mugs of hot chocolate and finish them.

Marinette wasn't sure how much time had passed, but eventually Cat's ears twitched and he looked towards the window.

"It sounds like the rain has stopped."

"Really?" Marinette followed his gaze and sure enough, the downpour had fizzled out into a half-hearted drizzle.

"I should get going now," Cat said as he stood up.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Marinette wasn't sure how upset he'd been, but it had to at least be significant if he hadn't wanted to go home. Cat simply gave her a warm smile.

"You worry too much, Princess. It was just a bad day. I'm all better now," he said, his voice gaining a somewhat teasing tone towards the end.

"Well excuse _me_ for being concerned when I found you crying on the rooftops!" the dark-haired girl huffed.

"Crying?!" Cat cried out in mock offense. "I was not _crying!_ _Oh_ , how _wound me_ Princess!" He staggered back as if her words had indeed caused him physical harm. His dramatic reaction only caused Marinette to start giggling again. "Well, if I'm only going to be abused here, I see no reason to stay!" he said and started up the stairs to the balcony.

"Wait!" Marinette called out suddenly.

"What is it?" Cat Noir turned to see Marinette rummaging around through her things.

"I know it's in here somewhere… Aha!" she called out triumphantly, brandishing a small black object. She turned and handed Cat a collapsible black umbrella. "Here you go!" Cat looked at the object strangely for a moment, as if he couldn't quite understand what she'd given him. "It's still raining a bit and I wouldn't want you to catch a cold. You can use that. A, uh, a friend gave it to me," Marinette said, blushing a bit as she remembered the day she'd gotten it from Adrien. Cat was still silent and Marinette wondered if she'd offended him somehow. "It's okay if you don't want to use it! I just thought-"

Marinette stopped when Cat put his hand on her shoulder.

"It's fine. Thank you, Marinette. For everything," he said, and the petite girl was once again surprised by the emotion in his eyes. "Goodnight." And like that, he was gone, not even giving her a chance to reply.

"What… just happened?"

"I think," said a small voice as Tikki exited her drawer, "that Cat Noir may have just taken swept through here like a storm!" the small creature giggled.

"Tikki!" Marinette gasped. "Not you too!"

And thus, the evening ended with a young girl chasing her kwami around her bedroom and her superhero friend staring at the small initials _A.A._ inscribed into the handle of an otherwise unremarkable umbrella.


	5. Chapter 5

**Yes, I'm doing the thing. No, I'm not sorry. (you know you love me;))**

 **But seriously, I'm not going to get graphic, but if you're squeamish you** _ **might**_ **want to skip the middle section.**

* * *

Adrien was more confused than ever. He was lying awake in bed staring at the ceiling, trying to comprehend what had happened between him and Marinette. Plagg (mercifully) had decided to go to sleep and was snoring away in his drawer, leaving the teenager alone with his thoughts.

His eyes once again wandered to the umbrella sitting on his bedside table. _His_ umbrella, the one he'd given Marinette when he'd apologized for the chewing gum incident. The one that she'd _kept_.

Adrien just couldn't understand _why_. The fact that the umbrella was here and not thrown away like he'd suspected proved that Marinette had indeed forgiven him. Heck, the fact that she'd told Cat Noir that she considered Adrien a _friend_ proved that she'd forgiven him. And yet, she still acted so strangely around him. Nervous, like Plagg said. But why? He'd already ruled out so many possible reasons, what more could there be? If she genuinely didn't like him, Marinette never would have told Cat Noir that Adrien was her friend. She had no reason to lie. And the look on her face when she'd said it looked so… tender, as if receiving the umbrella was a fond memory. So why did she have so many problems talking to Adrien? It made even less sense now that he'd gotten to know her more as Cat.

Adrien sighed as he remembered the events of that night. Marinette had been so kind to him when she had good reason not to. She'd understood that he wasn't laughing at her and actually joined in. The space they'd created that evening had been so… comfortable. For the first time since his mother left, Adrien had felt truly warm from the inside out. He really wanted to feel that way again, but… he couldn't. Not as Cat Noir, anyways. Going back there again would just put Marinette in unnecessary danger. He'd just have to try harder as Adrien. It was Friday so he had two days to wait until he could see her in class, but he could wait.

Come Monday morning, he wouldn't let leftover awkwardness over the Assailant incident cripple him. It was over and done with, and if he kept thinking about it he'd never get anywhere.

His mind was still running in circles, but his newfound determination gave him enough peace of mind to sleep. As Adrien drifted off, he began to dream of sky blue eyes that he wasn't sure were Ladybug's.

* * *

Adrien should have known things never went according to plan.

The sun was setting on a Saturday evening, couples were out, and the city of lights was just starting to flicker to life. Normally, Adrien would have enjoyed this time of day. It was right after dinner, when all of his commitments and extra classes were over and he was free to spend his time as he pleased. This usually involved playing video games, talking with Nino, or, as he had decided that evening, bounding over the Paris skyline as Cat Noir. So yes, _normally_ Adrien loved this time of day, but _normally_ he didn't have a bullet hole in his shoulder that was growing more painful by the minute.

 _Note to self, tell Ladybug our suits aren't bulletproof at point-blank range._

So, as Adrien held his shoulder in a desperate attempt to keep from bleeding out, he went to the only place he felt he could go.

* * *

Marinette was sitting at her desk, lost in her designs, when she heard the loud crash on her balcony. Her head whipped up and she almost screamed. Her eyes darted to her bedroom door to see if her parents had heard anything, but the only sounds that came were from the TV. They hadn't heard. Well, if it was dangerous, she could handle it herself.

With a nod to Tikki, who had been started awake from her nap, Marinette carefully made her way up the stairs to her bed. The teen put her hands on the trapdoor to the balcony and slowly inched it open, taking in the scene on her roof. What she saw almost made her scream again.

Cat Noir was lying there, on the ground, bleeding. He clutched his shoulder in obvious pain and Marinette could see tears streaming down his face.

"H-hey, Princess," he said breathily, one of his scrunched up eyes opening to look at her. "Sor-sorry about the-the plants." He even had the gall to try and give her a cheeky smile.

"I don't care about the stupid plants!" Marinette cried as she crawled out of her room to kneel next to the wounded hero. "I'm worried about _you!_ What happened?!"

"Well, as y-you can see, I've been shot." Marinette wanted to smack him for trying to joke with her in a situation like this, but held her tongue. It was probably his way of distracting himself from the pain. Speaking of…

"We need to get you to a hospital," the noirette said as she moved to call for her parents. Her father could easily carry the wounded boy downstairs while she and her mother called an ambulance.

"W-wait!" the hand of Cat's unwounded arm wrapped around her wrist, and Marinette couldn't help but feel slightly sick at the blood that coated it. "No hospitals."

"Why?! You're hurt! You need help!" She was trying not to cry now. Seeing her partner so hurt and helpless broke her heart a little more every second and she needed to _do_ something!

"Hawk Moth- h-he can't fi-find out." Marinette gasped and her eyes widened in realization. Of course, if Cat Noir went to the hospital, it would be on the news. If it was on the news, Hawk Moth would see it, and if that happened, the villain could send out an akuma that Ladybug would have to fight herself while _he_ went and stole Cat's miraculous while the boy was vulnerable. There was nothing Ladybug could do either! Her Lucky Charm only fixed magical damage and as terrifying the hole in her partner's shoulder was, its cause was undoubtedly mundane. Anything else and Cat would have gone to Ladybug for help.

Marinette began to cry, feeling so useless for being unable to do anything for her friend.

"Shhh," Cat said shakily his still bloody hand coming to rest on her face. "That's wh-why I'm here."

"Huh? What can I do?"

"W-well, if memory serves, you're n-no stranger to stitching up this cat, P-princess," he choked out, trying in vain to give something close to his trademark grin.

It took Marinette a moment to catch his meaning "You mean… the dolls? You want me to give you _stitches?!_ Cat, I can't do that, I'm not a doctor! I'm sure we can find some way to-"

"Marinette, please. Help me." Cat looked up at her with imploring eyes, desperate.

"Alright," she finally said. "This is a bad idea, but alright. Just… let's get you inside, okay." Cat nodded with obvious relief before seemingly passing out from the pain. Marinette gathered him in her arms and half-dragged him over to the still open trapdoor. She dropped her legs down onto her bed before carefully tugging her wounded friend down onto her bed. It was harder than she'd expected, not because he was heavy but because he was limp, dead weight. She shivered as the thought passed and decided to avoid the _d_ word for the time being.

Marinette lay Cat down on her mattress before scrambling down the stairs. First aid kit. She needed a first aid kit. She was almost opening the door when she felt a tug on her hair. She turned to find Tikki, who put a tiny fin to her lips before gesturing to her chosen's cheek. Marinette's hand went to her face to find it still sticky with Cat's blood. She grimaced and saw that her arm and shirt were stained red as well from carrying him. She had to waste even more time cleaning herself off before she could go downstairs or her parents would ask questions.

As quickly as possible, Marinette rinsed off the blood in her small sink and threw on a new shirt before _finally_ leaving for the first aid kit.

"Oh, hi honey," her mother said as she entered the living room.

"Uh, oh, h-hi mom!" Marinette tried to hide her rising panic. It didn't seem as though she did very well as her mother's brow creased.

"Is everything alright?" the woman asked as Marinette made her way to the bathroom and began to rummage around for the plastic box she _knew_ was there, oh, where did it go?!

"It's fine mom!" the teen said, just a little too loudly. There it was! Marinette claimed her prize and ignored the strange looks both of her parents were now giving her. "Just, uh, dropped a box on my foot!" she immediately began faking a limp. "Yeah, did you hear that sound earlier? Clumsy me!" she forced a laugh as she backed up the stairs.

"Oh, _that's_ what that was! I thought I heard something!" her father said as realization dawned.

"Do you need any help sweetie?" Sabine asked with a concerned expression.

"NO! I mean, I'm good, I can take care of this myself! Don't worry! Good night!"

"Well, if you're-" Marinette didn't hear her mother finish as she closed her bedroom door and raced to the injured kitty on her bed. She grabbed her bloody shirt on the way and was soon sitting next to him.

"Cat?" she called tentatively, her hands hovering over him, unsure of what to do. "Cat?" a pained groan answered her and Marinette almost collapsed with relief.

"Marinette?" his voice was gruff and slurred, but he was _awake._

"Yes, it's me. I've got the first aid kit, so I'm going to start now, okay?" the blond hero nodded weakly and Marinette reached for his zipper. Slowly, she pulled it down, her eyes on Cat's face for any signs of discomfort. When she saw none, she gingerly began to tug the material of his suit down his shoulders, placing her ruined shirt under his injured arm to prevent more blood from soaking into her sheets. The girl visibly flinched when she saw the wound. It wasn't very big, but the sides were rough and blood oozed out onto Cat's chest. It was probably the entry wound. The exit would look worse. At least, she hoped there was an exit. She wasn't sure if she could handle digging a bullet out of Cat's flesh. Tenderly, she snuck her hand to around his back and sighed with abject relief when she felt another wound there. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than her having to attempt amateur surgery in her bedroom.

Marinette mentally prepared herself as she took out the suture kit and began to thread the needle. It was difficult to do with her shaky hands and she kept missing. Tears stated to well up again when she heard a small voice.

"Psst! Marinette!" the girl looked over to find Tikki. The kwami had somehow managed to fill an empty paint bucket with water and drag it up the stairs. With great effort, the tiny god dragged the container over to her chosen, faltering a few feet away. Dropping the needle, Marinette lunged for the bucket and caught it before it could land on Cat. Taking a cursory look at her partner, Marinette found him fitfully asleep again. The blue eyed girl released a breath she didn't know that she'd been holding. She wasn't worried about her secret identity, not now, when Cat was bloody and wounded. She was far more concerned that any jostling would cause him unnecessary pain.

The teen sat back up again, setting the bucket to the side. She started to look for the needle to find that Tikki had threaded it for her. How the kwami had managed to do so without fingers, Marinette could only guess, but was still grateful one task had been lifted from her shoulders.

Taking the cloth Tikki had placed in the water bucket, Marinette wrung it out before carefully wiping the blood from Cat's chest. Once that was that was done, she took the needle from Tikki and started her first stitch. Cat flinched and gasped in pain, his eyes shooting open.

"SHHHHShhhshhhh!" Marinette hushed him. She placed her hands against his shoulders and nudged him back down into the mattress. "It's alright, just me. It's just me." She wasn't sure who she was trying to comfort at this point, Cat or herself, but his body relaxed and he let her resume her work.

Each stitch was excruciating for both of them, but soon the bullet hole was sewn shut. Marinette cleaned the wound again with shaky hands before covering it with a bandage. Cat had passed out again, so she didn't bother asking him to roll over and maneuvered him herself so she could see the other side of the wound. Her shirt had staunched the bleeding, but it was now sticking to his skin and she couldn't get to his injury. She hated the small pained sounds he made as she peeled it off, but it was necessary. She tried to use as much water as possible so it wouldn't hurt and the water quickly turned red. When she finished and saw the exit wound, she choked back another sob. Tikki's comforting presence on her shoulder was the only thing keeping Marinette from breaking down in hysterics.

Sealing the exit wound was just as difficult as the entry wound, but Marinette forced her hands to stay steady. She didn't want to risk hurting Cat more than he already was. He was much quieter as she sewed up his back, and Marinette wasn't sure if that was a good thing. On one hand, he wasn't conscious of the pain. On the other, his _lack_ of conscious could be the result _of_ the pain, or he could be suffering from blood loss, or exhaustion, or-

 _Focus!_ she told herself. _Cat_ needs _you! Don't panic!_

After what seemed like an eternity, the wound was cleaned and bandaged and Cat lay peacefully in her bed. Marinette wished she could change the sheets so he wouldn't have to sleep in bloodstained ones, but she didn't want to move him. Instead, she pulled his suit back over his shoulders, leaving the zipper down in case something went wrong and she needed easy access, and cleaned up as best she could.

She put away the first aid supplies but left the kit by her bed, rinsed out the bucket, washed her hands, and changed into her pajamas. It couldn't have been too late, but Marinette felt so drained that she just crawled into bed next to Cat and fell asleep.

* * *

The first thing Adrien registered was warm. He was in a warm place. Then he felt the pain. He gasped and clutched at his shoulder. It felt like it was on fire! What had happened?... Oh. Right. He'd been shot. But what else? He cracked an eye open and was assaulted by the color pink. Ah, he was in Marinette's room.

Wait.

He was in Marinette's _bed_. He turned his head to look for her to find her… asleep. In her bed. Which he was also in. They were in her bed together.

Adrien's face grew progressively warmer as he realized the situation he was in. he had to move, had to get up, had to _get away_ before she-

"Hnng… Cat Noir?"

-woke up.

 _Shit._

Marinette rubbed her eyes and blinked blearily as she slowly joined the waking world. She didn't seem to notice Adrien spontaneously combusting. Maybe he still had a chance, he could still slip out! He could-

Suddenly, Marinette shot up, blue eyes wide. "CAT!" she exclaimed, turning to him and taking his face in her hands. She considered him for a moment before sagging in relief and throwing her arms around his shoulders. "Oh thank God," she whispered.

It was then that Adrien began to take in the details. Marinette's sheets, normally pink, were stained rusty red and brown in several places. Her hair, normally so sleek, was a mess. She was shaking slightly as she held him and when he pulled her away a bit to get a better look at her face, what he saw broke his heart. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and her bottom lip had a sore on it from biting it, something she probably hadn't even realized she was doing. Her expression was a mixture of worry and relief with just a hint of fear, and suddenly Adrien felt sick. _He'd_ made Marinette look like that. It was all his fault. He should have listened to her and gone to a hospital, consequences be damned. He should have gone to one himself, actually. He shouldn't have gone to her house, shouldn't have asked her to help him. He'd scared her, and now that look on her face was going to haunt him forever.

"I'm so sorry, Princess." The words couldn't contain half the regret he felt. The longer he was awake, the more he could remember of the night before, things he'd sensed through the pain. Marinette sobbing. Marinette trembling. Marinette, sweet, kind Marinette, _flinching_ at the sight of his wound, something she shouldn't have been _near_.

"What are you sorry for?" she asked, covering the hand he hadn't realized was cradling her face with her own.

"I shouldn't have-"

"Come to me for help?"she interrupted. "No, you were right. It was too dangerous to go to a hospital. _Anyone_ could have taken your ring." She turned her head down before looking up at him through her lashes. "But… I am a little surprised you trusted _me_ not to." Adrien flinched at the unspoken question in her eyes. _Why?_ It wasn't one he could answer, not without putting her in danger, so he tried to find something else, _anything_ else.

"I, uh, guess I'm just a good judge of character?" he tried, smiling weakly. Marinette pursed her lips, not quite buying what he was selling, but she let it drop.

"Are you feeling alright?" she asked instead, concern etched into her features.

"I'm fi-" he started, but stopped short, once again realizing the, uh, _intimate_ position they were in. he jumped away as if she'd burned him, putting as much space between the two of them as possible. He cleared his throat. "I'm fine," he said, unable to look her in the eyes.

"Oh." From the corner of his eye, Adrien could see that Marinette had turned red as well, her hands folded awkwardly in her lap. There was a small stretch of silence before she asked the question Adrien knew was coming. "How did you get hurt?"

He sighed. "Well, you see," he said, reaching back with his good arm to rub the back of his neck, "I was out on a run, thinking all was right with the world, when I saw this guy. He was in an alley and messing with a door, so I decided to talk to him, see if anything was wrong, you know?" Marinette nodded. "So I land behind him and say, 'did you lose your keys or do you think it's more fun to open doors the hard way?'" Adrien chuckled at his own joke before a pain from his shoulder prompted him to continue. "So then he turns around, and he has this gun in his hand, and I realized I probably shouldn't be standing so close to him. But before I could do anything he puts the gun up right against my shoulder and just fires! It surprised me at first, and so I wasn't paying attention and he ran away. That's when I saw that I was bleeding, and the pain started setting in and… well, I stopped thinking as clearly." Both hands were in his lap now, and Adrien finally managed to look Marinette in the eyes. Her gaze was fixed on him as she listened attentively. "Then I guess I just, I don't know, decided to come here? It probably wasn't the best idea. I was on the other side of town and it took me even longer to get here than it should have, so by the time you found me I'd lost a lot of blood and wasn't really thinking." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"I really am sorry, Marinette."

"You have nothing to apologize for," she said. "You were hurt and scared. I'm just glad you're alright." Adrien opened his mouth to protest again, but the look in Marinette's eyes stopped him short. She wasn't going to accept any apologies from him. Instead, he rereleased his breath and gave her a small smile.

"Me, too."

There was a moment of companionable silence between them before Marinette started fidgeting.

"So, um, do you need anything? Like breakfast or something? Oh, and we should probably change your bandages too-"

"Wait," Adrien interrupted her, holding out his hand. The cogs began to turn in his mind and he finally noticed the morning sunlight coming in through the skylight. "What time is it?"

"Uh, I don't know," Marinette replied, reaching for her phone. "A little after 6. Is that a problem?"

 _Yes,_ yes it _was_ a problem, a _huge_ problem because it meant three things; one, Adrien had been transformed _all night_ and Plagg was going to _kill him_ , two, he had been in Marinette's bed _all_ _night_ and if her parents- or Alya- found out, _they_ were going to kill him, and three, he had approximately thirty minutes to get back home before Nathalie checked in on him or else his father would call the police. _Again_.

Adrien was on his feet in a matter of seconds, jostling the mattress and nearly knocking Marinette over.

"Wait, Cat, you're still hurt. You shouldn't be-"

"I need to get home," he said curtly, zipping up his suit. Oh, God, had _that_ been open all night too? Maybe he should've let himself bleed to death in the alley. It would've been less painful. "I really can't thank you enough for helping me, but if I'm not where I'm supposed to be _very_ soon, my father is going to freak out and it'll be a huge mess."

"But your shoulder!" Marinette protested. "You can't go around jumping off of rooftops when you're injured! You'll make it worse!" Adrien pursed his lips. She had a point. He rolled his shoulder experimentally. He didn't get very far before wincing with pain. It still hurt, but…

"I'll be fine," he said with more conviction than he really had. "It doesn't hurt nearly as much as last night." Marinette remained unconvinced. She had that stubborn look in her eye. Adrien sighed. "If it'll make you feel better, the second I'm done letting my family know I didn't disappear in the middle of the night, I'll come right back here so you can check up on me. Deal?" She still looked uneasy, but seemed to realize the importance of him getting home.

"Deal," she said finally, and Adrien let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Princess," he told her with a smile. She scowled at him.

"Just go before I change my mind," she grumbled. Adrien chuckled.

"Good bye, Princess, see you _litter._ " He pretended to ignore her indignant look at his pun and vaulted out the window. He hoped the return of his sense of humor would reassure her at least a little.

 _Now, how much cheese is it going to take to keep Plagg from murdering me?_


	6. Chapter 6

**I don't think I can go one chapter without using the word 'awkward.' It's just… these dorks…. AGYGYGDYGEHHGGHGH!**

 **You know?**

* * *

All the cheese, apparently. It was going to take _all_ the cheese to calm down the raging kwami, because Plagg. Was. _Livid_. Adrien rarely ever saw the tiny being act seriously, let alone get _angry_ , so it was surprising to say the least when, the second Adrien released his transformation, Plagg few into his face and started _screaming_.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU LET HER TAKE YOU TO A HOSPITAL!?" Adrien let out a small squeak of surprise and landed firmly on his rear. "WHY DIDN'T _YOU_ GO TO A HOSPITAL?! WHY DID YOU GO TO MARINETTE'S HOUSE?! DID YOU THINK GETTING STITCHED UP BY A THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL WAS A GOOD IDEA?! DID YOU HIT YOUR HEAD?! IS YOUR BRAIN FUNCTIONING PROPERLY!? _WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!_ "

Adrien couldn't answer any of those (very reasonable) questions because his mouth was hanging open in shock. It was just so… _weird_. Plagg was normally so lazy and carefree that it was easy to forget that he was actually a primordial god of chaos and destruction, but Adrien sure remembered _now_. The boy had never even considered the idea that Plagg could be scary, but the 4-inch-tall cat had somehow managed to intimidate Adrien in a way not even his _father_ could.

"I-I-I'm sorry-"

"You're _sorry_? YOU'RE _SORRY?!_ YOU ALMOST GOT KILLED AND YOU'RE _SORRY?!_ " Plagg was in his face now, leaving Adrien almost cross-eyed in an attempt to look at him.

"I'm s-" Adrien stopped the apology at the warning look in Plagg's eyes. He gulped audibly and continued. "I just… I wasn't thinking, okay?" The boy avoided his kwami's gaze, looking to the floor.

"That's right, you _weren't_ thinking! You weren't thinking when you landed behind that guy in the alley, you weren't thinking when you went to that girl's house, and you _weren't thinking_ when you told her not to take you to a doctor!" His voice had gone down a few decibels and was laced with concern.

"I'm sorry…" Adrien repeated, shamefaced. Plagg sighed.

"Look, kid, I-I'm sorry for yelling, okay? I was just worried about you." He floated closer to his chosen's cheek and nuzzled him gently.

"I know," Adrien said, his hand reaching up to cradle his friend. "I made a lot of stupid decisions last night."

"You're telling me," Plagg said as his boy pulled him away from his face so his hands and the kwami were sitting in his lap. "I know you were surprised, but you need to make good decisions _all the time_ , Adrien, not just when you're ready to make them."

"I know," the boy said again. He shifted his hands and moved on finger to gently rub Plagg's head. "It won't happen again."

"It better not…" Plagg grumbled. Adrien gave him a fond smile.

"Thanks for worrying about me."

"Don't get used to it, kid. I'm not too good with this…. _feelings_ stuff." Plagg was pouting now, trying to look anywhere but Adrien's face. _Embarrassed_ was new for Plagg too.

"On the bright side, at least I'm feeling better," Adrien said, mercifully changing the topic.

"That's because you had the suit on all night," the kwami explained. "You get a few buffs to your civilian self because of you Miraculous, but most of the magic happens when you're transformed."

"So… if I want to get better fast I have to keep the suit on?"

"Pretty much."

"Well," Adrien sighed, "I hope Marinette won't mind me resting at her place for the day. It wouldn't exactly be smart to recuperate here or out in the open, huh?"

"Maybe your brain is working, after all," Plagg said as he drifted towards his cheese drawer. "I'm gonna fill up. You go take a shower or something and let your dad's assistant know you're not dead." Adrien nodded and headed towards the bathroom.

Once he entered, the first thing he removed was his shirt. His shoulder protested once he raised his arm over his head, but he kept going. He looked in the mirror to examine Marinette's handiwork. The bandages were snug, but not too tight, wrapping around his upper torso. He could feel some padding over the bullet holes, but there were rusty red stains seeping through anyways. Adrien grimaced. It wasn't going to be fun peeling them off, but if he went downstairs looking and smelling like he did someone was bound to notice. And yes, he did _smell_. He must have sweated a lot from the injury and spending the night in his suit- as surprisingly breathable as it was- hadn't helped matters.

With great reluctance, Adrien finished disrobing and stepped into the shower. He let the hot water flow over him for a minute before starting to loosen his bandages. It was painful work, and blood both new and old was washed down the drain. He tried not to look at his wound as he washed away the sweat and grime, but it was inevitable once he stepped out of the shower.

Marinette, to her credit, had managed neat, even stitches. It was probably the best Adrien could have hoped for without going to an actual doctor, honestly. However, the skin around his injury was angry red and beginning to scab over. Adrien winced. If it looked that bad after a night of rest in a magic super suit, how bad had it been when Marinette had sewn him up the night before? He'd probably mentally scarred her. He'd have to do something to make up for it.

With his new resolution made, Adrien opened the cabinets under his sink to look for the first aid kit his father insisted he keep ' _in case you fall off the rock wall._ ' For once, the teen was thankful for his father's overprotective nature. It would've been hard to try and sneak a first aid kit into his room, not that he knew where any others were in his house.

 _Well,_ he thought, _might as well get this over with_.

* * *

By the time Adrien's feet landed on Marinette's balcony, he was ready for a nap. Re-bandaging his shoulder after his shower had been an ordeal, despite Plagg's attempts to help. Then he'd had to go down to breakfast and at like nothing was wrong despite how sore his arm felt. Luckily, he'd been shot in his left shoulder so he at least had the use of his dominant hand, but acting normal under Nathalie's piercing gaze wasn't a relaxing experience. The only real stroke of luck he'd had was that, since his father was out of town, he'd been allowed to spend the day as he wished. In fact, Adrien _should_ have been on his way to Nino's, but the gunshot wound put a damper on those plans quickly. Breakfast with Nathalie was one thing. There was _no way_ he could keep his injury from Nino for an entire day of playing video games. At least he could spend some time with one of his friends today, even if Marinette didn't technically know it was him.

Just as Adrien was about to knock on the skylight, it flew open to reveal a much more put-together Marinette. Her eyes were still red-rimmed, but the swelling had gone down and they had regained their energetic light, and her hair was back in its signature sleek pigtails.

"Hey," he said, slightly surprised.

"Hey, yourself," she said back, not quite smiling. She was still far too worried for that.

"So, I know I said I'd let you change my bandages, but…"

"Don't tell me you tried to change them yourself!" she scolded him as she took his hand and led him into her room.

"I didn't have much of a choice, Princess," he tried to explain as she sat him down near her cat- Marshmallow, right?- and took out her first aid kit. "I needed to let my family see me at least once, and if I'd shown up to breakfast covered in sweat they would've asked too many questions." Marinette huffed at this, clearly not pleased, but didn't say anything as she took out the supplies she needed.

"Just let me see, okay?" Adrien nodded and, with only a slight amount of embarrassment, unzipped his suit and showed her his shoulder. His classmate made a strangled squeaking noise and turned red, and Adrien felt guilty again. This really was upsetting her wasn't it?

"Look, if you don't want to-"

"What? NO! It's not that, it's just- well, um…" her face was even darker now, and Adrien couldn't help but look at her quizzically. Really, she could be so strange sometimes, but it was weird she was acting this way around Cat. She shook her head vehemently and slapped her hands on her cheeks before taking a deep breath. "Let's just do this, okay?"

"All right," Adrien chuckled. He really couldn't get a handle on this girl. He wondered what she could possibly be thinking about.

* * *

What Marinette was thinking about- or rather, trying very hard _not_ to think about- was Cat's well-toned chest and abs. while she had been in very close proximity to both last night, the threat of her partner's death had hung over her like a guillotine and kept her from really _seeing_ them. Now, however, Cat was fully awake and not in any danger. _Now_ the morning light from her window was streaming in and gliding across his smooth, tanned skin. _NOW_ -

 _Stop thinking about it!_ she told herself as she pulled a bandage just a bit too tightly. Cat was her friend, her partner, and most importantly, _hurt_. She should _not_ be drooling over him. She refused to! So, as she unraveled the slapdash job Cat had done with the bandages, she focused her attention solely on his wound. She was shocked to see how much it had healed overnight. Just a few hours ago there had been a hole through Cat's arm, but now it was almost completely closed. Her surprise must have shown on her face because Cat smiled and rolled his shoulder a bit.

"Apparently I heal faster when I'm in the suit," he said, gauging her expression from the corner of his eye. "Which leads me to something else…" Cat shifted uncomfortably and looked down at his lap.

"What is it?" Marinette asked him, curious as to what could make her exuberant friend so uneasy.

"Is it alright if I hang out here today?" Cat finally turned to look at her full on, a hopeful glint in his eye. Marinette's brow furrowed.

"I mean, I don't mind, but why?"

"Well, like I said, I heal faster in the suit, so if I want to hide this from my family I'll have to stay transformed all day, which I can't do at my house and I wouldn't feel comfortable doing on some random rooftop while I'm hurt, so…" Cat pressed his lips together as his sentence faded away.

"So you want a place to rest that you know is safe until you feel better," Marinette supplied, catching his meaning.

"Exactly," he said with a nod. "I would call my Lady, but she can't exactly take care of me without showing me where she lives, so-"

"So you decided to ask the girl who stitched you up," she finished for him again with a slight smile.

" _Purr_ -cisely! Jeez, Princess, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were psychic!"

"How do you know I'm not?" she teased. A look of pleasant surprise came over Cat's face and it took Marinette a minute to realize why. When she did, she slapped her hand over her mouth and groaned internally. She'd just acted like Ladybug!

The short, awkward silence was broken by Cat's soft chuckle that steadily grew louder, and soon Marinette was giggling with him. Then Cat winced and Marinette remembered why he was here in the first place.

"For now, let's just get you fixed up," she said, reaching for the forgotten medical supplies.

"Yeah, that'd probably be best," he agreed. Marinette poked near the wound experimentally and he winced. She pursed her lips as she thought of something.

"If you're healing this fast, we should probably take the stitches out now…" she said absently. Cat let out a small whine.

"Do we _have_ to?"

"Well, we could always leave them in, let them get infected, and then you'd _really_ have to go to the hospital…." She gave him a pointed look and the superhero deflated slightly.

"Alright, just… get it over with." He squeezed his eyes shut and made a childish face. Marinette giggled and pulled out a small bottle of numbing agent.

"Don't worry, I'll be gentle. Just let me get some water and we'll get started."

* * *

Adrien knew Marinette was trying to be careful, but it still hurt. He tried not to look as she pulled the stitches from his shoulder. He wasn't succeeding. She was going slowly so as to not aggravate his wound. He probably would be grateful if he could focus on anything other than how hard he was trying not to cry.

"There," she said as she pulled the last thread from his back. "All done. Now we just have bandage you up again." Adrien sagged with relief. _Thank God_ , he thought. Marinette gave him a small pat on the back and about cleaning his shoulder and smearing some sort of salve on his skin.

"So… is it really okay for you to stay here all day?" Marinette asked with a worried look on her face. Adrien shrugged- then winced as his shoulder reminded him of his wound- and gave her a resigned look.

"Pretty much," he said. "They're pretty good about leaving me alone unless they need something, and since my father's out of town-" Adrien cut himself of abruptly before he could say something that could compromise his identity. His Lady would never forgive him if he revealed himself to a classmate by accident. It was just…. Marinette was so easy to talk to. The way she looked at him that made him feel like what he was saying mattered… it was just different than what he was used to. The only other people that made him feel that comfortable were Nino and Ladybug. Adrien was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't notice the way Marinette's lips quirked down in displeasure.

"They don't even check up on you?" she asked. Adrien shifted uncomfortably as he realized that he might have given Marinette a rather negative view of his home life.

"I mean, it's not like they _need_ to," he said. "I'm fourteen. I don't need them keeping tabs on me or anything. Besides, it'd be pretty inconvenient for my superhero life if they were always hovering, right?" Adrien gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile, but the look on her face told him that he failed. He sighed and his shoulders sagged. "It's really alright, Marinette."

She said nothing, instead focusing her attention back on his injury. Adrien wished that he could explain, but he couldn't without revealing his identity. He just hoped his classmate didn't think he was from a broken home or something.

"Done," she said finally. Adrien looked at his neatly bound shoulder appraisingly. Once again, Marinette had done an excellent job wrapping him up. In fact, she seemed to have done a better job now that she was calm and had better light.

"Thanks, Princess," he said as he pulled his suit back up around his shoulders. "You know, I'm starting to think you may have missed your calling as a nurse."

"A psychic and a nurse? You seem to have a very high opinion of me, Cat Noir." Her voice was playful again and Adrien loved it. She sort of reminded him of Ladybug and it made him more comfortable.

"And why shouldn't I?" he asked her. "You're kind and brave, keep your cool during an akuma attack, _and_ you're able to handle a wounded superhero? You sound pretty _paw_ -some to me, Princess." Adrien gave her a cheshire grin that somehow grew wider when she turned red and started sputtering. "What's wrong, Marinette?" he said innocently. " _Cat got your tongue?_ " That's what did it. Suddenly, Marinette looked supremely _offended_ and grabbed her pillow of the bed.

"Why you!" she said as she brandished her weapon. Adrien shrank back in mock terror, still smiling.

"Have _mercy,_ Princess! You wouldn't attack an injured cat, would you? I could lose one of m nine lives!" Marinette, apparently unmoved, swung the pillow at his face and he barely got his arms up to defend himself in time.

"You have eight more," Marinette said with a playful scowl on her face. "It's no real loss." Adrien couldn't help but laugh as she continued her fluffy attack.

"OH! Princess, how you _wound_ me!" he drawled dramatically, placing his hand over his heart. "Your words cut deeper than any blade! I fear I may be slain!" Marinette had given up the pretense of anger and was now giggling as she smacked him with her pillow again.

"You're such a _drama queen!_ "

"You say that like it's a _bad_ thing!"

Soon both teens were doubled over with laughter, gasping for breath. After the giggle fit had subsided, they simply lay there on the bed, trying to regain their composure. Adrien turned his head to look at Marinette and couldn't help but notice how pretty she looked with her hair falling out of its ribbons and a healthy glow to her cheeks….

 _STOP IT,_ he told himself.

"So, I'm assuming that's a yes on me staying here today?" he said to distract himself.

"That wasn't clear?" Marinette replied with a dry look.

"Well, you never actually _said_ yes. I just want to have my bases covered if your dad comes in and sees me."

"Oh," she sniggered, "it's not my _dad_ you have to worry about." Adrien's eyes grew comically wide as he imagined Marinette's mother, who was even smaller than her daughter, really, _truly_ angry. If she was anything like Marinette….

Maybe he shouldn't think about it too much.

Marinette tried and failed to hide a small snort behind her hand. Adrien sent her a withering look before standing.

"Well, we can't spend all day up here," he said, turning towards the stairs. "Let's go find something to do on the floor."

"Oka _aaaeeechk_ \- WAIT!" Adrien was suddenly jerked back by his tail and dragged back onto the bed. Marinette shot up and blocked the way back down, holding her hands up like some sort of goalie. " _You can't go down there yet!_ " She was doing that weird thing with her hands again (that he _didn't_ find adorable, no matter _what_ Plagg said) and looked very uncomfortable.

"Why?" he asked, confused.

"Bu-b-because… it's messy! _Very_ messy!" she told him in a panicked voice.

"It looks fine to me," he said, and it did. He couldn't see _all_ of her room from on top of the bed, but from what was visible he didn't see anything Marinette should be embarrassed over. She jerked his head away from the edge and almost pushed him against the wall.

"Well it is! It's messy, and I need to clean up, and you are staying _right here_ until I'm done, got it?" Adrien decided not to push his luck and just nodded. The last thing he needed was an angry Marinette Dupain-Cheng, especially after all she'd done for him recently. So he sat cross legged and placed his hands in his lap, every inch the picture of obedience. Marinette seemed to waver on whether or not he'd listen to her, but eventually nodded before storming down the stairs. Once she was gone, Adrien sighed.

 _Girls are so weird._

* * *

Marinette was panicking as she looked at her desk. Why, oh _why_ had she immediately put her Adrien posters back up after Cat had left on Thursday? She pulled them down as quickly as she could- without damaging them, of course- and stuffed them back in the drawer.

Tikki, who had hidden the moment Cat had arrived, peeked out from her own drawer and gave her chosen a small smile. Marinette was one of the most expressive Ladybugs she'd ever had, and sometimes it was fun to just watch her face as she worked through things. Like now, for instance, as she desperately tried to change her desktop background but kept pushing the wrong buttons. The kwami stifled a giggle so as to not alert Cat Noir to her presence, and slipped back inside for a nap.

Meanwhile, Marinette had _finally_ gotten the stupid computer to cooperate ( _no_ , she did _not_ want to make firefox her default browser, how had she even _opened_ the internet!?) and had set her desktop to a safe, neutral picture of her and Alya. She did a quick once-over to make sure she didn't miss any evidence- she'd nearly _died_ when Adrien had almost see her framed picture of him- before moving to the bottom of the stairs and calling out to Cat.

"You can come down now," she said, hoping he didn't hear the dying panic in her voice. If he did, he didn't say anything as he came bounding down the steps.

"So, _Purr_ -incess, what do you want to do today?" Marinette smiled a bit at his exuberance. It was nice to see Cat acting normal again after last night. She figured the only reason she hadn't had nightmares about it yet was because she'd been too emotionally exhausted to do anything but sleep. Hopefully spending the day with Cat would assure her subconscious that everything was alright.

"Well, I really don't have that much to do today," she told him. Alya was busy with some sort of family activity for the whole weekend and she'd already finished her science project earlier that week. Normally she'd help out in the bakery at least a little on days like this, but when her parents saw how tired she'd been at breakfast, they'd told her to take the day to relax. They wouldn't bother her until lunch time at the earliest, so she and Cat didn't have to worry about them checking up on her for a while.

Marinette looked at her partner appraisingly and pursed her lips.

"For now, why don't you just lie down? You look pretty tired." True, Cat looked a thousand times better than the night before, but he still didn't look quite like himself. His skin was just a bit too pale and Marinette could see his eyes starting to droop as the pain from taking out his stitches and the excitement of their short pillow fight began to fade. He opened his mouth, as if to protest, but then seemed to realize how tired he was and simply nodded.

They wordlessly moved over to the chaise and the superhero laid down, shifting a bit to get comfortable. Once he was settled, Marinette gave him a quick pat on the head before heading towards her desk to get some designs done.

"Hey Marinette?" Cat called sleepily, giving a small yawn as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

"Yes?"

"Thank you. For everything."

"Oh, kitty, you don't need to thank me for that…" But Cat didn't hear her; he was already asleep.

* * *

 **Adrien still doesn't realize that he's a victim of neglect and emotional abuse.** _ **Sigh.**_ **Oh, well. At least he has Marinette there for him.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Here it is. The chapter. ON TIME.**

 **Voice of Reason: But, we're a day late…**

 **SILENCE, KNAVE!**

 **Voice of Reason: You have anger issues.**

 **NO I DON'T!**

 **Voice of Reason: I really think we need to see our therapist.**

 **YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS THE VOICES ONLY TALK TO ME!**

 **Voice of Reason: I'm one of the voices!**

 **GO TO YOUR CORNER!**

* * *

Adrien felt very warm again. It wasn't that he was swaddled in blankets or sitting by a fire. There was just… _something_ about his environment that made him feel calm.

 _Maybe it's the smell,_ he mused absentmindedly. It _did_ smell nice, wherever he was; like bread and vanilla, with just a _hint_ of strawberries…

He rolled onto his side and gave a small groan.

"Awake yet, kitty?" The voice was clear and bright, yet gentle. Who was it again? Was it his Lady? No, Ladybug wouldn't be in his room… except he wasn't in his room. He was…

 _Oh,_ he thought as he dragged himself into consciousness. _I remember now._ Adrien wiped his eyes blearily as he sat up and stretched his arms over his head. His spine gave a satisfying _pop_ and he slouched forward.

"Morning, Marinette," he said blearily. A giggle answered him as he tried to force his eyes open.

"It's not morning, anymore Cat. It's mid-afternoon." Finally opening his eyes, Adrien found that she was right. The sun, while not yet setting, had cleared its highest point in the sky and was on its way down. Its slowly dimming rays were streaming in through Marinette's open window, and Adrien's heightened senses could hear the sound of a gentle breeze rustling its way through the trees in the park across the street.

"Wow," he said. "Guess I really needed that nap."

"Yeah," Marinette giggled from her desk across the room. "You were pretty tired. I tried to wake you up at lunch, but you were so out of it I decided to just let you sleep."

"Why, thank you, Princess," he said dramatically, "but speaking of food…"

"Are you hungry?" she asked, and Adrien nodded eagerly. "I figured as much. I managed to sneak some up here after my parents went back down to the bakery." Marinette reached for a plate he hadn't noticed sitting beside her on the desk. Unwrapping it, she stood and walked over to him, placing it in his lap.

"Wow. You really _are_ the best," Adrien told her as he looked at the food. It was simple, just a couple of sandwiches, some chips, and a few pieces of fruit, but he dug into them eagerly. He hadn't had nearly enough at breakfast because he was so worried about Nathalie figuring him out, so the boy was _starving_.

"Oh, stop," she said, rolling her eyes. "It's not that big a deal."

"I disagree, Princess," he said, swallowing a bite of his sandwich. "I find you _paw_ sitively _claw_ some!" His classmate groaned in response.

"If you're punning like that again, you _must_ be feeling better."

"Of course! In fact, I feel like _the cat's meow!_ " Marinette narrowed her eyes.

"You know, if you're not hurt anymore, I have no reason to hold back…" she drawled. Adrien stiffened in mock fear.

"Oh, my! I'd better not push my luck then! I didn't have much to begin with!" This drew out a genuine laugh and Adrien smiled. It was nice to talk to Marinette like this. Natural, almost. As if they'd been friends for years.

"See that you don't," she said, pointing a stern finger at him. She was attempting a warning look, but there was clear humor in her eyes. "Anyways, after you finish eating, I want to check your shoulder again." Oh. Right. He had a _reason_ to be here, not just hanging out with his friendly classmate. The memory sobered him a bit and he made a small noise of agreement before turning back to his food. Marinette, in turn, went back to her desk and whatever it was that she'd been working on.

* * *

Marinette's pencil lightly traced the lines of her drawing, trying to get the shape of the shoulders _just_ right. She was almost there… almost… almost!

"What'cha working on?" The girl let out a startled yelp and threw her hands back, managing to knock Cat in the face. "OW! Okay, okay, probably shouldn't have surprised you…"

"You think?!" Marinette exclaimed as she turned around to face her partner, who was still nursing his nose as if she'd broken it.

"Sorry, Marinette. I didn't mean to scare you. I'd been standing there for like, five minutes. I thought you noticed." Cat's ears drooped, and Marinette softened. She hadn't really been mad in the first place anyways.

"Next time, make sure, okay?" Cat nodded contritely and she smiled. "So, are you ready for me to have another look at your arm?" The leather-clad hero rolled his injured shoulder with a small grimace.

"Ready is a relative term, but I would like to get these bandages off at some point." Marinette couldn't help but find the small pout on his face cute. Giving a small grin, she stood.

"Go sit back down on the chaise so I can see." The boy obeyed and began to unzip his suit to give her access to the wound. Marinette tried not to watch, hoping he wouldn't catch the color on her cheeks. Tentatively, she unwound the bandages to reveal an almost-closed bullet wound.

"Wow…. I mean, just…. _Wow_ ," she said, her fingers gently tracing the injury. "You really _do_ heal fast." What had last night been a hole straight through Cat's shoulder was now a pinkish scar. It still looked painful, but if Marinette didn't know any better she would have said that Cat had gotten this injury _weeks_ ago, not hours. Said hero seemed less impressed with his recovery, though. He let out a heavy sigh and poked the scar with a clawed finger.

"I really hope this fades…" he said absently. A mild scowl marred his features.

"Would it be that bad if it didn't?" Marinette asked. Cat's head snapped up and he seemed to realize that he'd just said his thoughts out loud.

"Oh, um, no- I mean, yes, actually. My father doesn't pay attention to much, but he at least cares about my health. I'm not sure what he'd do if he found out I had a new scar he didn't remember me getting." Oh. Marinette set aside the 'doesn't pay attention' bit to sort through later to give Cat a sympathetic look. Most injuries could probably be explained with a fall or bumping into something, but a gunshot wound? That would be almost impossible to justify.

"Maybe he won't notice?" she said hopefully. Cat gave an unconvinced smile and nodded.

"Maybe." There was something in his eyes that made Marinette's heart hurt. He looked… lonely. She wanted to comfort him, to tell him everything would be alright, but she couldn't. She had no idea what his home life was like, so she couldn't even guess how his parents would react.

While she was lost in thought, Cat Noir shrugged his suit back up his shoulders and closed the zipper.

"I guess… I should go," he said reluctantly. He wasn't looking at her anymore, and Marinette wasn't sure how she felt about that.

"Yeah… I guess you should." The cat-eared boy stood up from the chaise and made his way up the stairs to the skylight, Marinette following. He moved to open the hatch but paused. After a moment of internal debate, he turned around and grabbed one of Marinette's hands, placing a kiss on her knuckles.

"Thank you, Marinette. For everything. I don't…. I don't know how I can ever make this up to you." Marinette flushed, caught off-guard by the sincerity in his eyes. Honestly, he was so much easier to deal with when he was joking around.

"Y-you don't have to thank me for anything," she managed. "It's the least I can do…" Cat's mouth quirked upwards in a half-grin.

"You really are amazing, Princess." And with that, he was gone before he could even notice the dark-haired girl's face light up. She lifted her hands to her warm cheeks and collapsed of her bed with a groan.

"Tikki, what's wrong with me?" The only assurance Marinette had that her kwami even heard her was a soft giggle coming from her desk.

* * *

Adrien just couldn't stop thinking about it, about her. Marinette had helped him so much out of the goodness of her heart. He knew her well enough to guess that she didn't expect anything in return, but he couldn't do that. He had to do something to show her how grateful he was. The problem was, he was in the same quandary he'd been in when trying to apologize for walking in on her during the Assailant incident: he had no idea what to get her. He could always get her flowers again, he supposed, but that didn't seem right. Not only was it a repeat gift, it wasn't nearly enough to thank her for saving his life.

He could always ask Alya. She knew what Marinette liked. Except… that wouldn't work. If _Adrien_ asked Alya about a present to give Marinette, she'd naturally ask why. Even if he managed to evade that question (which he had a less than 1% chance of doing), the gift was ultimately going to come from Cat Noir. If Marinette told her friend she'd gotten a present from someone who wasn't Adrien, Alya would get suspicious and it would only be a matter of time before she figured him out. Alya was a force to be reckoned with under normal circumstances, but she was downright _unstoppable_ when it came to Marinette. Asking any of their other classmates would mean similar problems. He was officially on his own.

He was still going through his options that night as he went to meet Ladybug for patrol. It wasn't something they did together often so as to not disrupt their civilian lives, but they made sure to get together at least once a week to take a look over the city and talk about anything they didn't have time for during akuma attacks. Ladybug normally made her rounds during the day while Adrien had more free time at night. He regretted that he didn't get to spend more time with his Lady, but it couldn't be helped. Ladybug had a busy civilian life from what he could gather, even if she didn't tell him any details, so he decided to treasure what time he got.

Adrien decided to push his problems out of his mind for a while as he came upon the building where he and Ladybug normally met. He could see that she was already there, but something was off. Was she… pacing? And he could swear he could hear her muttering something under her breath.

 _Well,_ he thought, _might as well just ask her._ And he planned to do just that. However, his intent was thwarted as, the moment his boots hit the gravel, Ladybug's head snapped up and she rounded on him. If Adrien didn't know better, he'd say there was murder in her eyes. He didn't know why, but it was clear he was in trouble. He swallowed thickly as Ladybug marched up and got in his personal space.

 _Uh-oh._

* * *

Marinette wasn't happy with Cat Noir. In fact, she was _furious_. Once the shock of him _almost dying_ had worn off, she couldn't stop thinking about how reckless he'd been! She could forgive him for stumbling onto her rooftop because he'd been hurt and not thinking clearly. But getting shot in the first place?! By some low-level street thug?! He knew better! He wouldn't have gotten hurt if he'd been even a _little bit_ more careful.

Tikki had tried to calm her charge down, but it was no use. By the time patrol came around, the girl had worked herself up into a frenzy and was ready to burst. So, when that mangy stray showed up, had the _gall_ to smile that stupid, charming _irritating_ smile of his, she snapped.

" _You stupid cat!_ " she screamed, stomping up and jabbing her finger into his chest. "Do you have _any idea_ how _worried_ I was?!" Cat's brow scrunched in confusion.

"H-huh? Worried? W-why?" Oh, so he was going to play _dumb_ , was he? Well, Marinette wasn't having any of _that._ She may not have been able to tell him off as herself, but Ladybug could rip him a new one!

"Why? _WHY?_ What do you mean, _why_? You got shot! HOW COULD I NOT BE WORRIED?!" She'd backed him up against the chimney at this point. His gaze kept flickering down to his feet, as if he was scared to look her in the eye, but also afraid of taking his own eyes off her for too long.

"How-how did you know about that?" HA! She _knew_ he'd ask that question, so she had an excuse ready!

"Marinette _told_ me! She told me you got hurt! That you got shot! _That you could have died!_ " Marinette's face was as red as her suit and she felt tears stinging her eyes. "Wh-why didn't you _call_ me?" Her voice broke at the end of the sentence and the tears started to fall. She brought her hands up to her face to try and control her outburst, but the floodgates had opened.

"Oh, Ladybug, _please_ don't cry…" Cat said as he wrapped his arms around her. She refused to admit this made her feel any better. Cat Noir most certainly did _not_ give really good hugs, _nor_ did he smell nice- aside from the strong smell of cheese. Nope. She didn't enjoy this at all.

"N-not cryin-ing, suh-stupid cat," she sobbed into his chest, hiccupping. Honestly, Marinette didn't understand why she was breaking down like this. She'd already cried so much when she was stitching him up she figured she was done, but now… it just seemed to hit her all over again that she could have lost him. He could have died, and she would have _never known_. Because what if it hadn't been Marinette's roof he landed on? What if he'd never made it to her in the first place? What if he'd fallen in some dirty alleyway and passed out, with no one to help him as he bled out in the garbage? His transformation would probably drop if he died, so even when someone found him, they wouldn't find _Cat Noir_ , they'd find his civilian self. Her partner would be gone, and Marinette would never know what happened or why. That thought left her cold. As horrible as it had been to fix him up, it would have been a thousand times worse if she'd never seen him again.

Cat's hold grew more firm as he slid his back down the chimney and lowered the two of them to the ground. They just sat there for a while, silent except for Marinette's hiccupping cries. Slowly, she regained her composure and sniffled. She pushed away to sit back on her heels to give him the best glare she could muster. Considering her eyes were no doubt red-rimmed from crying, it probably wasn't her best work. Cat Noir looked more guilty than intimidated. Marinette took a deep breath.

"Why didn't you _call me_?" Because really, that hurt a lot too. Not as much as the thought of losing him, but enough to make her almost start crying again. "Don't you trust me?" Cat's expression grew pained.

"Of _course_ I trust you, Ladybug," he said, putting his hands on her shoulders. "It's just-"

"You trust Marinette more," she finished. She knew it didn't make any sense to be hurt over this, she _was_ Marinette after all, but for her partner to trust a girl he'd only met a handful of times over her, well… it didn't feel good.

"No! that's not it, it's just…" Cat's brow furrowed and he let out a sigh. "I wasn't thinking clearly, and even if I had called you, you would have had to reveal your identity to take care of me-"

"You really think I care about that?!" she interrupted. "That I think my identity is more important than your safety?"

"Well, but- I mean, you're the one who says we need to keep them a secret," he said, confused.

"Yes, for our _safety_. But if you're hurt and you need me, if you're _dying_ , then it doesn't matter! Yes, I want our identities to remain a secret so there's a smaller chance that Hawk Moth finds out, but it's not like I don't trust you enough to tell you." Her partner's eyes widened, looking touched.

"You-you trust me that much?" he asked in a small voice.

" _Yes,_ " she stressed, "of _course_ I trust you! The only reason I haven't told you yet is because of Hawk Moth!" Marinette reached out to lay a hand on his face. "But I need _you_ if I want to beat him, so please, kitty, if you're ever hurt like that again, _call me_. I'll be there for you." Cat leaned a bit into her hand and closed his eyes.

"Of course, milady. Anything for you." He opened his eyes and smiled at her. It was a real, heartfelt smile, like the ones he'd shown Marinette when she took care of him. It most certainly did _not_ make her breath catch. She was just… recovering from her crying session!

Marinette quickly dropped her hand from his face and scooted away, cheeks slightly red (from _crying!_ ). Cat picked up on the change in mood and folded his legs Indian-style.

"Sooo…" he drawled, "while we're on the topic… how does Marinette have your phone number?" The heroine rubbed her eyes and sniffled once more before answering. She'd thought up an excuse for this, too.

"She's had it for a while," Marinette explained. "I gave it to her during the Evillustrator incident in case anything went wrong." Lying to Cat Noir wasn't pleasant, but it needed to be done for the sake of her identity.

" _OH_ ," the boy replied, eyes widening in understanding. She giggled. Honestly, he was so ridiculous sometimes.

"Yeah, kitty, _oh_. Who do you think told me that the akuma had changed course and decided to attack Chloe again?"

"I…. I never thought about that," he said, one hand coming up to touch his chin in thought. He looked like someone had just revealed the secret to life and he was trying to process it. She couldn't help it anymore. Marinette threw her head back and laughed.

"What's so funny?" her partner grumbled.

"Nothing, nothing," she said waving her hand. "So, is there anything else you want to talk about before we head out?" Cat opened his mouth to reply, then hesitated. After a moment of thought, he looked back up and nodded.

"Yes, actually, there is."

"Oh? What is it?"

"Well, you see…" he began, his hand going back to scratch the back of his neck. "You know how Marinette really helped me out this time, right?" She nodded. "Well, I kind of wanted to do something to thank her, but I don't know… what, exactly…" Cat trailed off, looking unsure. Marinette almost responded with _'you don't have to do anything,'_ but that wouldn't do. _She_ knew that she was his partner and didn't need to be thanked, but _he_ didn't. It would be strange for Ladybug to not want to acknowledge someone who helped her friend. "I mean, I know she probably isn't expecting anything, but I just… I mean, that's why I _have_ to, you know? Do something, I mean."

"No, you're right," she said carefully. She was treading a thin line between her identities and had to make sure she didn't say anything revealing. "But it's hard to get someone a gift if you don't know them very well."

"I know!" Cat exclaimed, throwing his arms up. "I mean, I know she likes fashion, but I can't get her just _anything_. Designers are really particular. It wouldn't be much of a thank you if I got her something she didn't like or can't use." He slouched over, pouting, and Marinette couldn't help but smile.

"Well, from what I can tell, Marinette is a really nice girl. You're probably right that she isn't expecting anything, so anything you give will be that much more special." Cat groaned.

"That's a nice thought, but it isn't _helpful_ ," he said.

"Hmmm, I guess it isn't…" It was weird, thinking of a present for herself with her partner, who didn't _know_ it was her he wanted to get a present for, _and_ trying to pretend she didn't know what to get…. _What even is my life right now?_

It was a difficult question, though. She didn't want Cat Noir to spend money on her, and she wasn't one for expensive gifts anyways. He was right about design supplies, too. Unless she picked out the items herself, whether it be fabric or other materials, there was no guarantee she'd like them. He could give her something with a gift receipt, but Cat wanted to get something she wouldn't have to return or exchange.

"Maybe…" she muttered. Cat's head popped up.

"Maybe?"

"Maybe… you shouldn't _get_ her anything."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, maybe instead of getting her a present, you _do_ something for her? She probably wouldn't be comfortable with someone she doesn't know very well spending money on her anyways."

"Huh," he said, nodding. "That makes sense. But what could I do for her?"

"Well, what can you do?" she asked.

"I can… fight, but she wouldn't want me to beat anyone up for her."

"Definitely not."

"I'm good a physics, but helping her with her homework seems a bit…"

"It's not exactly 'thanks for saving my life,' it is?"

"No," he said, shaking his head, "not really. I'm multilingual, but she doesn't really need an interpreter…"

"What else?" Marinette prodded. "Come on, you're always saying how awesome you are. There's got to be more than that."

"Well, I can… play the piano?"

"That's a great idea!" she said, hopping to her feet. "Just play her a song!"

"I don't know, it's not really… much..." Marinette snorted at that.

"Yeah, having a superhero go out of his way to say thank you by playing a song just for you _isn't much_ ," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Well- it isn't! I mean, what if she doesn't like it? What if she doesn't like the song? What if she hates piano music? What if-"

"What if Hawk Moth wears a pink tutu and has a room full of stuffed animals?" she cut in. "You can go on your 'what ifs' all day, but it's not going to help you." Cat's ears drooped.

"I know."

"Now, _I_ think it's perfect. It's not that hard for you to do, you don't need to spend any money, and you don't have to worry about whether she'll use it or not." She crossed her arms and waited for a response. Cat made several expressions as he went through counter-arguments in his head, but ultimately nodded.

"I guess you're right, milady."

"I always am," she said smugly. "Now, is there something else, or can we start patrol now?"

"No," Cat shook his head. "There's nothing else. All that's left is to spend a _purr_ fect evening with _mew._ " Marinette rolled her eyes.

"Two in a row? Really?"

"What can I say? You just have a way with making me feel _cat_ forta _bell_ ," he countered with his signature cheshire grin. Marinette just gave him a dry look.

"Let's just get started, okay? We have school in the morning and don't need to be up all night."

"But you keep me awake every night, Ladybug." The girl groaned good-naturedly before unhitching her yo-yo from her waist and zipping off the roof. He chased after her, but she made sure to stay ahead. If that stray caught the smile on her face, she'd never hear the end of it.

* * *

 **Hello again! Just wanted to say a few things.**

 **First, like, WOW. Over a hundred people on FanFic and AO3** _ **each**_ **have decided to follow or subscribe to my work. You guys are awesome!**

 **Second, because you guys are so awesome, if there's anything you want to see happen, let me know and I might be able to fit it in! The destination of this fic is decided, but we can make a few detours on the journey! For example, the LadyNoir scene in this chapter was requested by my beta reader! Though this is primarily a MariChat fic, so there isn't going to be too much from other corners of the love square. My beta's just special. 3**

 **Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Seeing so many people liking it is helping me stay motivated!**

 **Voice of Reason: Except when you have writer's block…**

 **I SAID GO TO YOUR CORNER!**


	8. Chapter 8

**FIXED THE PROBLEM!**

 **Hey, Nino and Alya are back! Haven't seen them since…. CHAPTER ONE?! How did that happen!?**

 **Voice of Reason: Well, at least it's consistent with cannon.**

 **Oh, God, you're back.**

 **Voice of Reason: You do realize I can't leave, right?**

 **Does this mean you're going to become a thing?**

 **Voice of Reason: I dunno. You're the one writng.**

 **Don't you get all meta on me!**

 **Voice of Reason: Enjoy the chapter, guys.**

 **STOP IGNORING ME!**

* * *

Adrien was stumped again. Sure, talking with Ladybug had helped him figure out what to do for Marinette to thank her, but 'play a song' wasn't exactly specific. There were thousands upon _thousands_ of song out there that he could play, but he had to find the right one. It had to be both something that Marinette would like and be able to show just how thankful he was for her help. The problem was the only thing he knew about Marinette's music tastes was that she liked Jagged Stone. Which was awesome, of course. He liked that he and his friend had shared tastes, but Jagged didn't really have very many… slow pieces. There was the song he dedicated to Ladybug at his concert- which had Marinette light up with an adorable smile- but Adrien wanted to give Marinette something unique, something just for her. It didn't feel right to copy someone else's thank you.

"Hey, dude, everything alright? You're lookin' kinda scary there." Adrien's head snapped up.

"Oh, uh- sorry, Nino. I was just, um, thinking about… stuff." The blonde boy reached his hand back to scratch his neck- a nervous tick his father had tried in vain to get rid of- and gave his friend a bashful smile. "I didn't mean to space out on you."

"It's cool, dude," the DJ said, adjusting his hat. "Just don't leave me hanging with this physics homework, alright? You know I suck at this stuff." Nino scowled at the worksheet in front of him, as if glaring at the problems would make them easier. Adrien chuckled.

"Alright, what are you stuck on now?" It was Monday afternoon during lunch break, and Nino had practically _begged_ for help with his physics homework. Adrien's schedule was busy that week after school, so the boys were trying to get some problems done during the day so Nino didn't fall too far behind. They were just finishing up the ast problem for the day when an idea came to Adrien's mind.

"Hey, Nino, you know a lot about music, right?"

"Well, I guess," the lanky boy answered. "I mean, not _all_ kinds of music, mostly just contemporary stuff, like rap and some R&B. I listen to all kinds, but I'm not really an _expert_ in many of them. Why?" Adrien's shoulders hunched a bit.

"Well…" he stalled. He had to be careful how he worded this. He was reasonably sure that Marinette wouldn't end up telling anyone about his thank you song, considering she'd have to explain _why_ a superhero was thanking her in the first place, but she wasn't exactly the best liar. There was a chance she'd let things slip to Alya, who would almost certainly tell Nino. Adrien trusted all of his friends, of course, but he wanted them as safe as possible.

"Well?" Nino prompted.

"There's this… friend." Adrien kept it gender neutral because _lord knows_ the kind of ribbing he would get if Nino found out this was for a girl.

"Okay. A friend," Nino nodded.

"Yeah, a friend from work." Not technically a lie. Superheroing _was_ his job… in a way. "And this friend helped me out recently, like, big time. I would have been in serious trouble if it hadn't been for them."

"They sound pretty cool." It didn't quite sound like Nino was buying it, but at least he was playing along. Adrien decided to continue.

"They are. And, well, I wanted to do something to thank them, but I was stuck on what to do until another friend-"

"Completely different from the first friend." Adrien gave Nino a suspicious scowl. He _almost_ seemed to be making fun of him, but the DJ's poker face was too good.

"… Yes. So this second friend suggested that I play the first friend a song to say thank you, and, well, even though I don't really feel like it's _enough_ , I don't know the first friend well enough to pick out a good gift and not make h- _them_ uncomfortable."

"So you're going with the song," Nino concluded.

"Yes. It's just… I don't know what to play, and I was kind of hoping… you could… help…" Adrien trailed off, embarrassed for some reason and unable to look Nino in the eye.

"Well, first let me say you're being vague as _shit_." Adrien had the decency to wince guiltily, but offered no further explanation. "However, as your bro, I am willing to forgive you for this…" Adrien perked up immediately, " _for now_." The model nodded sheepishly and Nino continued. "So, I will impart upon you my divine bro advice."

"Oh, great teacher, give me your wisdom!" Adrien said with a sarcastic bow. Nino chuckled.

"Okay, here it is; just play from the heart." The blond stared at his friend blankly.

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"That's no help at all!" Adrien said, throwing his hands in the air. He was quickly shushed by the librarian. Muttering an apology, he continued in a lower voice. "If it was that easy, I wouldn't be having a hard time in the first place! Please Nino, help me out!" The boy folded his hands together, ready to get down and beg but unwilling to earn any more of the librarian's ire for causing a scene.

"Look, dude, I told you; I don't really know piano music very well," Nino said, putting a comforting hand on Adrien's shoulder. Said boy pouted, but couldn't argue. " _But_ I _do_ know music and how it moves people, so if you really want this to mean something, you have to pick it yourself. If you think it feels right, then I'm sure this girl will understand what you're trying to say." Adrien sputtered indignantly.

"Huh-wha-bu-but I never said it was a girl!" he said defensively. Nino only laughed.

"Dude, you are _way_ too transparent. You'll have to try a _lot_ harder if you ever want to keep something from me."

 _I already_ am _keeping something from you,_ he thought, but he couldn't say it out loud without Nino asking what it was, so Adrien settled for pouting.

"Oh, come on, man! Don't be like that! You know I've got your back if you need any help!" Nino's words were encouraging, but he was failing to keep the laughter out of his voice. Adrien groaned and dropped his head into his hands.

"This is _exactly_ why I didn't want you to know it was a girl!" the model whined. Nino only laughed harder, ignoring the dirty look the librarian was giving them. Thankfully, the bell rang before Nino could ask any embarrassing questions. As the boys stood up and collected their things, Adrien noticed a snickering noise coming from his bag. He made sure to drop it _extra_ hard once he got to his seat.

* * *

Adrien didn't get to pick out a song that day. Or the day after that. _Or_ the day after _that_. Instead, he and Ladybug had to deal with back-to-back akumas. While Adrien was grateful to spend more time with his Lady, it was frustrating that every time he sat down to think about what song he could play for Marinette, an alert from the Ladyblog popped up saying that an akuma was rampaging downtown _again_.

"I mean _seriously_!" he shouted as he dodged another attack from the most recent super villain. Tearorrizor, who Adrien could only assume worked in a copy or mail room of some sort, was angry about… paper. Or something. It didn't really matter. "Would it _kill_ Hawk Moth to have, like, a consistent schedule?"

"What, does it _bug_ you, kitty?" Ladybug said teasingly as she stepped in front of him, twirling her yo-yo like a shield. Several pieces of killer paper bounced off, leaving deep grooves in the surrounding buildings.

"Well, I could do with a little more _piece_ of mind," he countered, eyes never leaving their opponent. Tearrorizor, ridiculous though he was, was still a credible threat. He looked like a paper mache mummy, covered entirely in sheets of paper. Adrien wondered how the akuma could even see, considering the paper concealed his eyes as well, but decided not to question it too much- villains like Mr. Pigeon had long since proved that trying to hold akuma to any sort of logic was a lost cause. The only thing Tearrorizor had that could be the possessed item was a large stamp over his heart.

"Cat Noir, can you distract him for a minute?" Ladybug asked, eyes narrowing in concentration.

"As you wish, milady," Adrien said with his usual two-fingered salute before dashing out from behind the relative safety of Ladybug's yo-yo. "Hey, Flat Stanley!" he yelled as he leapt up to a nearby rooftop. "Are _mew_ actually trying to _purr_ ferate me right _meow_? Be _paws_ you're not doing a very good job!"

"You little _sheet_! Get down here so I can _rip you a new one_!" the villain bellowed. Adrien, mature, reasonable person that he was, responded in the only logical way; he scrunched up his face and made a rude gesture. For some reason, Tearrorizor took offense to that. Dozens of deadly projectiles launched themselves at him from the akuma's arms, barely giving Adrien enough time to scramble away with a frightened yelp. The hero started to run away, disgruntled opponent giving chase.

Adrien vaguely registered a flash of light behind him as Ladybug called for her Lucky Charm, followed by an exasperated groan. Whatever she'd conjured, it was as strange as usual. Glancing over his shoulder, he checked to see that Terrorizor was still on his tail (Ha. _Tail_. He'd have to remember that one). The two were on the roof of the same building, with the akuma being uncomfortably close.

"Cat Noir! Use Cataclysm on the roof!" Ladybug called.

"You got it! CATACLYSM!" Adrien summoned his power and slammed his hand down onto the shingles. A line of decay spread out from his fingers, reaching right where Tearrorizor was standing. With the roof now unable to support the man's weight, he fell through the rotting wood. Before he could right himself, Ladybug's yo-yo zipped out and slammed into his chest before retreating, taking the akumatized stamp with it.

"HAH!" the heroine cried in victory. She peeled the offending object off of her weapon-which Adrien now saw she had wrapped in some sort of double-sided tape- and ripped it in half. "No more evil doing for you, little akuma." And with that, Ladybug began the familiar task of catching and cleansing the butterfly. After she had thrown her Lucky Charm in the air to finish the job, Adrien trotted over to her, fist at the ready.

" _Pound it!_ "

"Amazing as always, milady," he said with a bow. Ladybug merely rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Such a flirty kitty," she teased.

"Only with you." That drew a snort from Ladybug.

"For some reason, I have a hard time believing that."

"My Lady," Adrien said dramatically, placing his hand over his heart, "how you wound me!"

"Drama queen," she chuckled fondly. Before Adrien could give a hilarious and witty response, both of their Miraculous beeped, reminding them it was time to leave. "Well, see you when I see you," she said as she waved goodbye and took off.

"Until next time, my Lady! I shall count the hours!" he called after her. He was rewarded with the sound of Ladybug's laugh echoing through the streets.

* * *

Marinette collapsed on her bed as she detransformed letting out a huge breath.

"Great work as always, Marinette!" Tikki chirped as she came out of the earrings.

"Thanks, Tikki. But you know, Cat Noir did have a point. I kind of wish Hawk Moth would just have a schedule for akuma attacks. It would make it so much easier." The teen gave a dejected sigh and buried her face in her pillow. Tikki giggled.

 _And she says_ Cat Noir _is a drama queen_ , the kwami thought. "Well, it might be hard to make that happen. Hawk Moth will always try to catch you off guard! The best we can do is keep our spirits up and fight the best we can!"

"I just wish we knew who Hawk Moth _was_ ," Marinette sighed, "or at least had some sort of clue. It's so frustrating to have to wait for him to cause trouble and pick up his mess." Marinette propped her head up on her arms and pouted. There was just no good way to find Hawk Moth! The one good lead she'd gotten in Mr. Agreste had been a red herring, and she had no idea where to even begin to look for clues.

"I can't help you with that, Marinette," Tikki said before she retrieved a cookie from Marinette's purse and sat down beside her chosen. "We kwami can sense each other, but only vaguely. I can only say that Nooroo is definitely in Paris, and that his miraculous is being used for evil."

"Nooroo…" Marinette said thoughtfully. "Hey, Tikki, what's he like? Nooroo?" the teen asked. Tikki pursed her lips- well, her mouth- in thought.

"He's very gentle," the little god said measuredly. "He is by far the most empathetic of all the kwami. His compassion for others is what gives his user the ability to sense people's emotions."

"He must really be miserable then, huh?"

"Yes," Tikki nodded sadly. "I'm sure he hates being used to hurt others. I hope…" the little bug trailed off with a pained look on her face. Marinette reached out and cupped the kwami n her hands.

"Don't worry, Tikki," she said, nuzzling the small creature. "I'm sure he's okay. And Cat Noir and I are definitely going to get him back! I'm sure of it!" Marinette didn't really need any more reason to want to defeat Hawk Moth, but the thought of getting back her kwami's friend definitely re-motivated her. She'd just have to look harder for clues from now on.

"Thank you, Marinette. That means the world to me. And I know you can do it, too!" The two smiled gently at each other until a thought popped into Marinette's mind.

"Hey, Tikki, what's Cat Noir's kwami like?" she asked. She'd been curious for a while, but hadn't gotten around to questioning Tikki about her other half. It would be interesting to know how her partner interacted with his kwami. Tikki's face scrunched up a bit, not unpleasantly, but in deep thought.

"Plagg is…. Interesting," she said finally. "He's a bit of a troublemaker, and he's almost always asking about cheese."

"Cheese?" Marinette said incredulously.

"Yep," Tikki giggled. "The stinkier the better! His favorite is camembert."

"Ew!" the girl laughed. "I'm glad you like cookies!"

"Me too! But you know," the kwami whispered conspiratorially, "Between you and me, Plagg's just a big softie."

"Really?"

"Mmhhm! He cares about his holders a whole lot more than he lets on. I know him better than anyone, so I can tell!"

"It sounds like you really like him a lot. I wish I could meet him," the heroine sighed.

"Me, too."

"Do you… miss him?" Marinette asked.

"Yes and no," Tikki replied. "It's a bit different than actually having him there, but I can feel him every time you're with Cat Noir! It lets me know that he's never too far away." Marinette wanted to ask more about Plagg but… now didn't seem like the right time. Maybe she could find out more later. "Speaking of Cat Noir…" Tikki said slyly.

"Huh? What about him?" Marinette didn't understand what was making Tikki act coyly all of a sudden.

"Do you think he's picked it out yet? The song he wants to play for you?" The little god was bouncing a bit as she spoke, clearly excited.

"I don't know. Probably not. I mean, we have been pretty busy lately, what with all of the akuma attacks and everything." And she could tell it was frustrating him. There weren't very many outward signs, but Marinette knew her partner well enough to see he was wracking his brain over something. She could see it in the way his brow was slightly creased when he showed up to an attack and was more focused on the fight than flirting with her. It was sweet that he was putting so much thought into something he was doing for her civilian self.

"Are you looking forward to it?"

"Of course! But I have to be careful to act surprised," she said thoughtfully. Tikki gave a knowing smile.

"Well, I think it's pretty romantic," the kwami said teasingly.

"Oh, please," Marinette snorted. "You know it isn't like that. Besides, Cat Noir barely _knows_ Marinette. Why would he be interested in me?" The only answer she got was a thoughtful hum. The girl was about to question her kwami's behavior when her mother's voice rang out from downstairs.

"Marinette! Your lunch break is almost over! If you don't leave now, you'll be late for your afternoon classes!"

"Oh! COMING, MAMA!" she called as she raced to get her things together and rush out the door. Marinette made sure to give both of her parents a kiss on the cheek before bounding across the street towards the school. How she managed to not trip over herself, she'd never know, but she managed to slide into the classroom a full minute before the bell rang.

"Hey, girl! You training for a race or something?" Alya teased.

Not deeming that comment worthy of a proper response, Marinette simply stuck her tongue out and walked to her seat. On the way her eyes were, as always, drawn to Adrien. He hunched over his tablet and scribbling furiously in his notebook. His brow was scrunched up in concentration, and Marinette couldn't help but think how unfair it was that he made _frustration_ look attractive. She let out a soft sigh of appreciation. Alya rolled her eyes and bumped the shorter girl's shoulder playfully.

The ambient chatter in the room quieted as Ms. Bustier walked in and clapped her hands.

"Alright, everyone, time to settle down!" the perky teacher said from her position behind the desk. "Today, we're going to be looking at a special kind of poetry…." The class listened attentively- well, except Chloe, but she was at least quiet while Ms. Bustier was talking, so Marinette counted it as a win. Even Adrien had put away his curious notebook, though she couldn't help but notice Nino whisper something in the blond's ear that made him turn slightly red and give his friend a shove.

Marinette payed attention as best she could, but her curiosity over Adrien's notebook hung in the back of her mind for the rest of class. She was so distracted, in fact, that she failed to see the devious smile on Alya's face, or the notes she passed to Nino when their seatmates and the teacher were all distracted. If she had, Marinette may have been ready- or at least expecting it- when Alya nearly tackled her the second class ended.

"Hey, girl, you know how I promised I'd go to the library with you after class?" the redhead said, maintaining a death grip on her friend's arm.

"What? You didn't-"

"Of _course_ I did!" Alya insisted as she pulled Marinette up and out of their seat. The dark haired girl barely had time to grab her bag before the blogger was dragging her down the stairs at what she _knew_ was an unsafe speed. "You have that _really_ important literature assignment to finish!"

"But I already-"

"-Planned to do it with me, I _know_." It didn't take a genius to figure that Alya had something in mind, but just because you know a tornado is coming doesn't mean you can stop it, so Marinette was helplessly strung along by her friend. "But the thing is, I have to babysit my sisters tonight, so I can't help you." Marinette was very confused. What was Alya talking about? She soon got her answer.

"What a coincidence!" Nino cut in, a firm arm around Adrien's shoulders. To an outsider, it looked friendly, but Marinette could see Nino's true intention was to keep Adrien from escaping. She found solace in the fact that the blond boy looked as lost as she was. "Adrien needs to finish that assignment _too_! Right, Adrien?" The model looked at his friend quizzically as Nino and Alya herded their friends to the library.

"I mean, yeah, but it's not due until-"

"That's perfect!" Alya interjected, and Marinette finally saw what her friend was up to. She shook her head vigorously, trying to get Alya to stop what she and Nino had planned, but the redhead wasn't even looking at her anymore. "Adrien, you and Marinette can work on it together!" They were in the library now, and the bespectacled teens shoving their confused companions into chairs. Marinette vaguely registered Alya slipping something into her hand before the scheming pair was halfway to the door. "Work hard!" Alya called with a wave, and just like that, Marinette was alone with Adrien.

"Uuuummm…. What… just happened?" the blond boy asked. The designer could only shake her head, too confused for words. She looked down to her hand to see that Alya had given her a note. Assuming it had something to do with why Alya had just _abandoned_ her like that, she unfolded it and read the message.

 _Girl, you will not BELIEVE this! Nino says that Adrien's playing some romantic piano solo for some girl from work. Your mission is to get more information! Fight for it! I believe in you, girl!_

Marinette groaned. _That_ was why Alya had left her alone with Adrien? It was ridiculous! Yes, she could now get full sentences out around her crush- well, sometimes, at least- but she was nowhere _near_ ready to go questioning him about some other girl, no matter how much it bothered her!

She was brought out of her reverie by an irritated huff from beside her. Marinette squeaked loudly in surprise and jumped away, turning to face- _Adrien_. Oh, God, _Adrien_ had just _blown on her ear_! She let out a smaller, more strained noise as Adrien blinked slowly and worked on regaining his composure.

"Oh, uh, sorry, Marinette," the boy said, reaching his hand back to scratch his neck. "I didn't mean to startle you like that." His expression was extremely apologetic, green eyes boring into her with concern, and it took all of the willpower Marinette had to not melt into a puddle on the floor.

" _S'okay_ ," she managed, but her voice was high-pitched and crackly. Gah! What was _wrong_ with her?! Could she not even talk like a normal person anymore? She'd been making so much progress!

"Sorry for reading over your shoulder," Adrien continued, as if she was _not_ some sort of unintelligible squeaking mess. "It was rude of me. I guess I just…" He paused and sighed heavily. "I was wondering what those two were up to and I can't believe it's _this_." The irate scowl on Adrien's face was so adorable Marinette almost missed what he said- _almost_.

"Yeah, um, I mean, it's not…." She was stammering again, but what was she supposed to say? That it wasn't a big deal? It was- at least to her. She desperately wanted to know about this mystery girl that Adrien was serenading, but she couldn't just _ask_ something like that! They didn't have that kind of relationship. She shifted nervously in her seat and rubbed her hands together, unable to look Adrien in the eye.

"I mean, this is exactly why I didn't want to tell Nino it was a girl! I _knew_ he'd get the wrong idea." Adrien pouted and ran a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated, but Marinette found hope.

"Wrong… idea?" she asked. And she didn't even stammer! It might not have been a full sentence, but it sounded _normal_! Hooray! Her teeth clamped down on her bottom lip as she waited for Adrien's response.

" _Yes_ ," the boy replied, and she let out a huge sigh of relief. She _wasn't_ losing the love of her life to some gorgeous older woman with her feminine wiles and huge- "She's just a friend. I _told_ Nino that, but he doesn't listen! It's like, once he gets an idea in his head, nothing I say will change his mind, you know?" Marinette chuckled softly and nodded.

"Alya's the same way. I guess those two are made for each other, huh?" SUCCESS! TWO full sentences! Who cares if she sounded like she'd just stepped off a roller coaster? She was _speaking_! And Adrien was smiling at her!

"Yeah, I guess they are," he agreed, placing his elbows on his knees and leaning forward. It was _wonderful_. But…

"If she's just a friend, why are you playing a song for her?" Marinette tried to keep the jealous edge out of her voice, but her words were still a bit harder than she intended. Hopefully Adrien wouldn't notice.

"Well, she did me a pretty big favor, so I wanted to do something for her, but I couldn't really get her a gift…" Adrien trailed off a bit before meeting her gaze. Suddenly, he stiffened up and coughed nervously. Was he really this worried about his friend? He was so sweet! Maybe she could help!

"Why not?" Marinette asked, completely oblivious to Adrien's internal freak-out. Blue doe eyes blinked innocently, awaiting an answer, breaking his resolve.

"Um, well, it's just… I don't know her very well…" He was nervous again. His hand had found its way back to his neck and he was having trouble holding her gaze.

"I thought you said she was your friend?" Why would talking about a friend make Adrien this uncomfortable?

"She is!" he assured hurriedly. "At least… I think so…" Marinette sat silently, patiently waiting for him to continue. He huffed in what almost seemed like defeat before speaking again. "It's just that she gets… uncomfortable around me, you know? So it's hard to tell if she actually likes me or not." He sighed again and leaned his head back in frustration.

"You said she did you a big favor, right? Doesn't that mean she likes you? At least as a friend?" Marinette cocked her head to the side in thought. What a strange friend Adrien had!

"Not necessarily," he replied. "She's really-" he suddenly choked and turned pink. "She's really nice," he finished quietly. "I think she'd do something like that for anyone. Besides, she might have just done it because I'm-" he cut himself short again, but this time it didn't seem like he was going to continue.

"Because you're…. the boss's son?" she guessed.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, obviously relieved. "Yes, exactly! What you said!" Marinette nodded in understanding. The Agreste name cast a fairly large shadow. Since this girl was a friend from work, she was probably very conscious of the fact that Adrien was the son of _the_ Gabriel Agreste, who could make or break her career.

"So you think she have been nice to you to get a good word in with your father?" Adrien was shaking his head before she'd even finished.

"No, she's not like that at all. Besides, what she did… can't exactly _get_ back to my father…" Marinette wanted to know what it was this girl did that made Adrien so grateful to her, but she held her tongue. If it was something Adrien was comfortable with other people knowing, he'd tell her.

"So… you decided to play her a song? Was it really so hard to find a gift for her?"

"Well, yeah, I mean… I know what she likes, it's just not very… specific…" He cast his eyes downward in disappointment. "Besides, I don't think she'd like me spending a lot of money on her…" Whatever doubts Marinette had about this girl lessened greatly at that. "And then another friend suggested I play the piano for her…."

"And when you asked Nino for advice he took it the wrong way?" she said, smiling. Adrien nodded and chuckled.

"Yeah, that's about it." He blew a breath out before looking up at Marinette through his lashes. "It's not… weird is it? To do this sort of thing for a friend?"

"Not at all!" she replied, shaking her head. "In fact, I think it's a great idea! If it were me, I'd be pretty blown away." He perked up considerably at that.

"Really?" His green eyes were focused on her, intense, and Marinette could feel her composure slipping.

 _Come on! Just a little longer! Hang in there!_

"Mmhmm." She was pretty sure her ears were red right now, but she refused to give up eye contact! Not that she could have even if she wanted to. Adrien's gaze had her pinned down, leaving her barely able to get her reply out. Then, his face broke out into a dazzling grin, and she just about _died_. He couldn't be this attractive! It wasn't fair!

"Thank you, Marinette. For everything." Something in the back of her mind wriggled at the words, but she couldn't focus on that right now. Now, she had to deal with the _blazing fire_ that was destroying her capability for rational thought. "Marinette? Are you okay? You're bright red!" Adrien fussed worriedly. He got up and walked over to her. "You're not sick, are you?" Then he _lifted up her bangs and pressed their foreheads together_. Fire? What fire? There can't be a fire when there's nothing left to burn! He leaned away, and while it became easier to breathe, she still missed his closeness. "You seem pretty warm. Are you okay?"

The only response Marinette was capable of was a strange, high-pitched keening noise that sounded more like some sort of exotic species of bird than a teenage girl.

"Maybe you should go home. Do you need me to walk you?" The perfect gentleman, even in the face of her uncontrollable awkwardness. Marinette fell just a little bit more in love.

"Fine I'm it's you, no need home!"

"What?" Marinette's hands slapped over her mouth as she realized what had just come out of it.

"I mean! Home fine! I mean YOU"RE fine! Wait! NO! _I!_ I'M fine! You don't need to walk me home!" At least one of those sentences was complete. Maybe. Probably. What had she said again?

"Are you sure?" Adrien asked, but Marinette was already gathering up her belongings.

"YUP!" she said just a little too loudly. "I'm good! Don't worry about me! Even if you are perfect…-lly chivalrous! Perfectly chivalrous! You're such a gentleman, Adrien! I love- _guys like that_! I love guys like that! Not that I _love_ you or anything, except well, maybe as a friend, like Nino! Yeah, like Nino! But different!" WHY COULDN'T SHE STOP?! Adrien gave no sign that he thought she was a total spaz (though that would have been a completely reasonable assumption, given the circumstances) and sent her a small smile.

"Well, if you're sure…"

"Of course I'm sure! Very sure! In fact, I'm so sure you could call me Shirley!" Oh, God, had she just _punned_? That damn alley cat was getting to her! His stupid jokes were seeping into her subconscious! "I'M GOING NOW!" And then she bolted before she could make an even bigger fool of herself. She ran all the way home, down the steps, through the bakery, and didn't stop until she'd flung herself upon her chaise in shame.

"UGHGGMMMHFFF!" she screamed into her pillow. There was a soft giggle from her side, and soon Tikki was sitting by her charge's cheek, patiently waiting for her to calm down. The immortal being smiled fondly at the child in front of her. Strong, sweet, and everything she loved about humans. This girl could handle anything the world threw at her. When the time finally came to defeat Hawk Moth, Marinette would be able to handle it.

…. If she didn't throw herself off the balcony out of embarrassment first!

* * *

 **And next week we will return to your regularly scheduled MariChat.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey! Sorry for the late update this week, guys. My beta reader and I BOTH ended up having some family issues, so it took a little longer than normal. I really wanted to get a chapter out this week, though, since I've been** _ **really good**_ **about updates so far!**

 **Now, enjoy the MariChat fluff, my fellow garbage-people! WE ARE TRASH, BUT WE ARE PROUD!**

* * *

"I hope Mariette got home okay," Adrien said as he scrolled down the screen on his computer. "She seemed pretty out of it. I hope she's not sick." Plagg decided not to dignify this with a response. If his chosen was going to be as dense as a concrete wall, that was _his_ problem. Plagg had better things to do. Like eat camembert. Adrien sighed, going back to his search.

He was looking for a good song to play for Marinette, but when he typed in 'grateful songs,' most of what came up was… romantic. _God Gave Me You_ , _In My Life_ , _Because You Loved Me_ , _How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)_. The thought of playing something like that for his classmate made his ears burn. Weren't there any songs about friends?! The boy groaned and dropped his head on the keyboard. Why was this so hard?

Suddenly, a song started to play. Adrien must have hit a key with his head. It didn't really matter. This one was probably going to be wash too. there just weren't any good song to thank Marinette for-

 _Every day_

 _You save my life_

His head shot up. Did he just hear what he thought he heard? Quickly, he restarted the song and actually listened.

 _You could have bowed out gracefully_

 _But you didn't_

 _You knew enough to know_

 _To leave well enough alone_

 _But you wouldn't_

 _I drive myself crazy_

 _Trying to stay out of my own way_

 _The messes that I make_

 _But my secrets are so safe_

 _The only one who gets me_

 _Yeah, you get me_

 _It's amazing to me_

 _How every day_

 _Every day, every day_

 _You save my life_

It wasn't romantic, but it was still emotional, and it _literally_ said what he was trying to thank Marinette for! It was perfect! Adrien was grinning ear to ear, excited to go and give his Princess the thanks she deserved-

Then he stopped. How was he going to play her the song? She didn't have a piano in her house, unless her parents were hiding one underneath their bed. He had one, but he couldn't play for Marinette in his room. It'd give away his identity. He could record himself playing the song and give that to her, but that wasn't the same. He wanted to see her face light up as she listened to the music swell and fall. He wanted to have her sitting on the bench beside him and watch him play something entirely for her. He wanted… he wanted to make her feel special. Because she was.

He may have been half-joking when he called her 'Princess' during the Evillustrator attack, but he kept using it because it fit. Marinette was the most princess-like girl he'd ever met, and not just because she was pretty and wore lots of pink. She was kind and brave, a good leader, always able to find the best solution to a problem. She was confident at times, but also incredibly sweet. Marinette was the only one who went to comfort Alix after her watch was broken. She was the one who tried to give up her place in the UMS tournament to Max because she felt that he wanted it more. She was the one that made sure Juleka felt like she wasn't invisible on picture day by organizing- well, if he was being honest- the most fun photo shoot he'd ever been a part of in the park. She was the one who, despite being scared out of her mind and not knowing anything about medicine, took a wounded hero into her room and stitched him up in spite of her shaking hands and teary eyes. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was a princess, and Adrien was determined to make her feel like one, even if it was only for a little while.

With a scheme forming in his mind, the boy rushed over to his notebook to start brainstorming ideas. Plagg just rolled his eyes, assuming- correctly- that whatever his chosen was up to, it was over-the-top and way more dramatic than it needed to be. It would probably be a good idea to talk the kid down a bit, _but_ ….. it would _also_ be a good idea to go find some more camembert from his stash. Hmmm. Well, Adrien knew what he was doing- well, mostly. He was just doing something for a friend. He wouldn't go _that_ overboard….

Right?

* * *

"I'm starting to get suspicious, Tikki."

Tikki looked up from her cookie to her chosen as the teen sat at her desk frowning at her computer screen. "About what?"

"Cat Noir and whatever he has planned." Marinette planted her elbow on her workspace and leaned her head onto her hand. "It's been more than a week and he hasn't shown up. I've tried talking to him as Ladybug, but he's been so deflective and there isn't enough time during or after akuma attacks to get a straight answer out of him. It's really shifty," she said, pouting.

"Are you worried about him going overboard?" Tikki asked.

"Yeah," the girl sighed. "I mean, I know saving his life is a big deal and all, so I get why he wants to thank me, even if I don't feel like he needs to." After all, how was he supposed to know that Marinette was actually his superhero partner? "It's just…"

"Cat Noir tends to be very dramatic?" the little god said with a smile. Marinette groaned and flopped back into her chair. Tikki giggled and floated over to her charge. "Come on, Marinette. Even if he _does_ go a bit overboard, it's not a big deal. Just have fun!"

"It's easy to _say_ that, but it's just so… so weird being around Cat as myself!" It had been fun during the Evillustrator attack to act like a swooning fangirl, like her own private joke, but there had been a mission with a clear goal to focus on. The Gamer and Puppeteer incidents had been brief at best, so she hadn't gotten to interact with Cat much then. Assailant had been… stressful, but a raging akuma had helped her keep her head and not lose focus. Every time she'd seen him after that, though…

"Is it a bad feeling?" Tikki asked. Marinette shook her head.

"No, not really. I just feel… off balance? It's hard to explain. It's like it's easier to keep my composure as Ladybug… or maybe it's harder to brush him off when he's not _trying_ so hard…" she pursed her lips. Was that it? Was it harder to not get swept up in Cat's pace as Marinette because he wasn't trying to woo her? She groaned. "Why are boys so complicated, Tikki?" the girl whined.

"I'm afraid I don't have the answer to that, Marinette," the kwami chuckled, "but I _can_ tell you that worrying about something too much will just make it worse." Marinette sighed. Tikki was right, of course. She shouldn't over think things. She was trying not to! But that darn cat had put her on an emotional roller coaster the previous weekend, and even now she still felt a bit dizzy. Maybe she just needed some time to herself to sort out her feelings and regain her footing.

She glanced at the clock. It was 9, so it was still pretty early, but sleep sounded so good right now… she washed her face and changed into her pajamas before making her way to the stairs. While this should in no way be a complicated action, for some reason her feet were confused as to where exactly they should go and Marinette ended up sprawled out on the floor with a surprised 'eek!' She grumbled and turned to see what had caused her to trip. It was her dolls, the ones Manon liked to play with. Marinette had added a few since the puppeteer incident. There was now a Dark Cupid, Reflekta, and even a Bubbler (Nino had begged her not to make one, so of course she had to. The look of betrayal on her friend's face when he saw the finished product had been _so_ worth the needle pricks), but the one that caught her eye was the Cat Noir doll. She picked it up and smiled gently. There had been a lot of trouble over that little thing.

The girl righted the basket and replaced the toys, but hesitated with her feline companion. After a moment of deliberation, she held the doll to her chest and carried it with her up to the bed. It's not like anyone other than Tikki would know. So she ignored the pointed look from her kwami and snuggled into her comforter. She was about to drift off when she heard a knock at her skylight.

* * *

Adrien thought that he was prepared to see Marinette that night, that he had everything set up, that there was nothing to surprise him. Naturally, Adrien was very wrong. There was very little that could prepare him for the sight of Marinette Dupain-Cheng nestled beneath her blankets, hair loose and spilling out over her pillow, holding a Cat Noir doll to her chest with a serene look on her face. He was pretty sure his heart stopped beating for a minute.

Unfortunately, he had already started to knock before he'd had the chance to process this information, so the dark-haired girl unfortunately shot up, her blue eyes locking onto him. Her mouth popped open into a small 'o' and she turned bright red. At least she wasn't alone in that. Adrien could feel his ears and neck heating up more and more as the seconds ticked by.

 _Don't just stand there!_ Adrien's mind screamed.

"Uh, hello Princess! I knocked this time." _Great. Way to state the obvious. What's next, the weather?_

"HI! HELLO! Um, evening good you to! I MEAN GOOD EVENING TO YOU! I mean- hi."

 _Great. Now she's uncomfortable. Good going._ Adrien's inner voice was starting to sound far too much like Plagg. "Uh, hi. Can I come in?"

"OF COURSE!" she said, standing up so quickly she almost toppled back down. She opened the skylight and Adrien slipped into her room.

 _Alright. We're in. now say something!_

"Sooo… do you normally sleep with a Cat Noir doll?"

 _SAY SOMETHING ELSE!_

But the damage was done. Marinette let out a small squeak and, somehow, flushed even deeper as she tried to hide the doll behind her back. If Adrien wasn't so embarrassed, it'd probably be adorable (okay, it was still adorable, but he couldn't focus on it now).

"I was- it's just- Wha-what bring you here?" She was changing the subject, and he jumped on it.

"Yeah! Why I'm here! There's a- a reason for that! That I came!" _Stop stalling!_ Adrien took a deep breath and focused. "So, there is a reason I'm here. You know how you helped me last week?" Marinette nodded and he tried to ignore the shadow that flitted across her features. "Well, I really wanted to thank you for that."

"Oh, you don't have to thank me," she said immediately. Adrien smiled. He'd expected as much.

"Ah, but you see, the fact think that way means that you deserve thanks even _more_ ," he chuckled. Marinette pouted slightly and crossed her arms over her chest in embarrassment.

"What do you have planned," she asked tentatively.

"You aren't going to try and talk me out of it?" he said, genuinely surprised. Marinette was so humble, he was sure she'd fight harder against any sort of reimbursement.

"Well, it's late, so I'm not really in the mood for arguing over this. Besides, you're so stubborn I probably couldn't talk you out of it if I had all night."

"Well, you're not wrong," he chuckled.

"I reserve the right to change my mind if you do something crazy."

"Of course."

"Sooo… what do you have planned?" Adrien gave her a cheshire grin.

"You'll see," he said cryptically. Marinette cocked an eyebrow. "But first, you should probably get ready."

"Ready? For what?" she asked.

"To go, of course." He was really enjoying this. It was just so fun to watch all the emotions pass over Marinette's features. Her current mood of confused was especially fun.

"Go? Where are we going?"

"You'll see." Marinette huffed frustratedly at his deflection.

"You know, being vague isn't going to make me relaxed about this." She was pouting again, but Adrien wasn't about to falter. He had a plan, and it wouldn't work if she knew what was coming.

"Aw, come on, it's a surprise!" he pleaded. "Besides, do you really not trust me?" He gave her his best kitten eyes, the ones that even Ladybug had trouble saying no to. His classmate pressed her lips together and groaned.

" _Alright_ , I won't ask for any details on this 'surprise,'" she conceded. Adrien kept himself from pumping his fist in victory. " _But_ I do need to know if I have to change or not. I don't want to be standing outside in my pajamas." Adrien nodded vigorously.

"Of course!" he said before turning a more critical eye to her outfit. She was wearing a white sleep tank with pink poka dots and long pink sleep pants. It looked a lot warmer than what she'd been wearing during- _We are_ repressing _that!_ \- it looked reasonably warm! "You might want to grab a jacket, and maybe some slippers, but other than that you should be fine."

"Alright," she said. "Wait for me on the balcony? I'll be up in a few minutes."

"Of course, Princess," he replied, bowing gallantly. Marinette giggled and rolled her eyes, but didn't otherwise respond, so Adrien climbed out the trapdoor and waited for her on the roof. His tail was twitching with excitement and he undoubtedly had a big smile plastered on his face, but he couldn't help it. He was finally getting to give Marinette a proper thank you for saving him, _and_ he was getting a chance to spend time with her without her stammering. He had, unfortunately, been rather lax in his attempts to try and get closer to her as Adrien that week due to his planning, but that didn't matter right now. Adrien could start fresh next week. Tonight, Cat Noir was putting on a show.

The sound of the trap door opening broke Adrien out of his reverie, and he turned to see Marinette climbing up onto the balcony. She was now wearing a large, fluffy sweatshirt that was about two sizes too big for her and some slippers.

"Okay, cat boy, I'm ready. Are you going to show me this 'special surprise?'" she said with a confident smile.

"All in due time," he replied, walking over to her. "It's a bit of a trip, so I'll have to carry you. Con you get on my back?" he asked as he turned his body around, but kept his eyes squarely on her. Marinette nodded and slipped her arms around his shoulders. Adrien crouched a bit so she could wrap her legs around his waist, then straightened. "Ready, Princess?" he asked with a cocky grin.

"As I'll ever be," she said. Adrien nodded, then faced forward to focus on where he was going. He bundled his legs beneath him and leapt off the bakery roof. He heard a small squeak from Marinette and felt her tighten her hold on him.

"Don't worry, Princess," he laughed. "I plan on taking good care of you tonight!"

* * *

Marinette wasn't _worried_. She had absolute faith in Cat, both in and out of her suit, and knew he wouldn't drop her. And even if he did, Tikki was in her pocket, so she could transform if something went wrong. So, she wasn't worried, but… well, it had always been… disconcerting, to say the least, to be above the rooftops without her yo-yo. It was sort of like being on a roller coaster at an old theme park, where you _know_ they wouldn't have the rides open if it wasn't safe, but there's still this niggling in the back of your mind saying _what if_.

She couldn't really explain this to her partner right now though, so instead she settled for "I trust you." He grinned at her, so used to traversing the rooftops of Paris that he didn't need to keep his full attention forward.

"Of course. Though, I can't say I'd mind if you held on more tightly," he said with a wink.

"Maybe I shouldn't," she teased. "My mama always said I shouldn't pet strays."

"Oh? You didn't seem to have that problem with my doll earlier." Marinette let out a small yelp and flushed bright red at the reminder. Cat seemed to be surprised by his remark too, as he almost tripped over his own feet on the next rooftop.

"I wasn't- that was- I'm not-" She was struggling to get a coherent thought out, unable to monitor her mouth.

"It's alright, Princess," Cat said with only a slight squeak in his voice. "A lot of ladies want a piece of this cat! I am _purr_ ty fine!" He was trying to play it off, but from her vantage point on his back, Marinette could see his ears- the human ones, that is- turning pink. The knowledge that he was embarrassed too gave her the courage to power through.

"It's not- I don't do that often!" _Breathe, Marinette. BREATHE._ "I-I don't do it at all, actually! I mean, why would I want to sleep with you? Wait, NO! that didn't come out right! It's not like it would be a _bad_ thing to sleep with you, I mean, you _are_ really attractive- I MEAN! NOT LIKE THAT!" This was not going well. "GAH! I don't even know why I did that," she whined, burying her face in his shoulder. If she had looked up, she would have seen the bright red face of her feline partner.

"So… what happened tonight?" He'd come to a stop, but Marinette was too embarrassed to lift her head out of the crook of his neck.

"I don't know… I tripped over it on the way to bed, so I just sort of…. Picked it up? I didn't think anyone would _see_!" She continued to hold onto him tightly, but quickly came to the conclusion that doing so wasn't much better than looking him in the eye. She could feel him, his muscles, his warmth, his heartbeat, through the suit and none of it was making her feel any calmer. She should probably let go, but was too flustered to meet his gaze.

"Why?"

"Huh?" Marinette said, her head coming up slightly. She was met with deep green eyes that were intense yet strangely… open.

"Why?" Cat repeated. "Why did you take the doll up with you instead of putting it away with the others?" She could feel his pulse going strong beneath her, too fast to be blamed on the run across the rooftops. That was about the equivalent of a brisk jog for them.

Marinette licked her lips and took a deep breath. "I…" Why _had_ she taken the doll up with her that evening? She'd never done it before. In fact, she hadn't slept with _any_ doll in years. Yet, something had compelled her to pick up the Cat Noir doll and take it to her bed. "I guess… it made me feel… safe? Or… secure, maybe? I don't know. It's just… a lot happened last weekend, so I kind of wanted… assurance?" What was she even _saying_? Why couldn't that stupid cat have just let the subject drop and be done with it? _Why_ was he looking at her like that?! Cat's eyes were slightly wide, but very soft, and Marinette could see guilt and just a bit of pain in his expression.

"I really am sorry I scared you so badly, Princess," he said. Gosh, did he have to sound so _sincere_? He was making it hard to play it off like Ladybug would.

"It-it's fine," she said dismissively. "I told you, you don't have to apologize. Besides, saying thank you is the whole reason we're out here, right?" she laughed nervously.

"Right." He didn't sound convinced, but he didn't push it either. Marinette suddenly found the shoulder of his suit very interesting. It was black and shiny, and it had these little hexagons on it….

"So, uh, how much farther is it?" she asked, trying to break the awkward silence. This seemed to jolt Cat out of his stupor.

"Oh, right! Uh, actually, we're here!" Cat let her down off his back and for the first time, Marinette looked up to take in her surroundings. She gasped slightly and brought both hands over her mouth. They were standing on the edge of a rooftop garden that was surrounded on three sides by a semi-circle of lush hydrangea bushes. In square pots dotted around the grass, there were small peonies and other flowers, presumably so it was easier to switch out whatever was in season. The entire space was covered by a large white trellis that was wrapped in fairy lights that glowed just brightly enough to see by. At the center was a small patio, home to a black, glossy grand piano.

"Oh my God," Marinette breathed.

"What do you think? Pretty nice, right?" The girl turned to face her partner to see the clear pride in his eyes. He looked positively _ecstatic_ to have left her at a loss for words.

"Cat, this is _beautiful_ , you didn't have to-"

"And that's exactly why I did," he interrupted. His grin was slightly smug, but it was mostly full of childlike joy. Marinette just couldn't bring herself to argue with him. "Now, if you would," he said, offering her his arm. She started slightly before catching herself.

 _Oh, right. The song. Which was my idea._ Marinette slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow and wondered how he'd managed to wow her like this with her own suggestion. Granted, she hadn't really thought about the _logistics_ of Cat Noir playing a song for her as Marinette, but even if she had, she doubted she would have thought of _this_.

"What's wrong, Princess, cat got your tongue?" he teased as he led her to the piano bench. They sat down beside each other and Marinette resolutely refused to look him in the eyes, though somehow, just _feeling_ him watch her was just as distracting.

"I- it's just- how did you even get this _up here_?" she asked, finally looking at him. She was so shocked she couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge his pun.

"Well," he said, looking every bit like the cat that got the cream, "I'm not gonna lie, it was a bit of a challenge to get it up here without my father finding out, _buuut_ …" he drawled, giving her a sidelong glance. "I'd say it was worth it, don't you?" His grin grew wider at Marinette's flabbergasted silence. "I'll take that as a yes," he chuckled. "Now, onto the main event! I assume you can guess what it is by now, Princess." The dark-haired girl blinked owlishly, trying to get her bearings.

 _Oh yeah, Marinette isn't supposed to_ know _about this_. Well, at least she hadn't had to _act_ surprised. "You're going to… play me as song?"

"Exactly!" Cat said cheerfully. His cat ears had perked up and his tail had managed to wrap itself around her ankle, though he didn't seem to realize that yet. "Do you… want to hear it?" he asked bashfully, bringing his hand up to scratch his neck. There was something familiar about the way he was looking at her… something that made her think of rain, though she couldn't quite say why. Marinette studied his face intently, as if staring harder would bring her the answer. "Princess?"

"Oh!" She'd been quiet for too long. "Um, yes, I'd love to hear it." Cat lit up like the fairy lights around them.

"Well then, here goes nothing," he said, turning his attention to the piano. The boy took a deep breath and gently layed his hands down on the keys. His eyes focused and his whole body seemed to relax as he started to play.

The melody was sweet and seemed to roll through the air, covering the small garden. The grin that had been on Cat's face the entire evening was now a soft smile as his clawed fingers flew across the piano. Pressed up beside him on the bench, Marinette could feel every move his body made, and for some reason it seemed far more intimate than when he'd carried her across the city. His eyes met hers for a moment and she flushed deeply. This was just so… _personal_. It was like he was showing her a part of him, something she'd never allowed as Ladybug, and it scared her a bit.

But she didn't tell him to stop.

* * *

Adrien kept his eyes forward as much as he could, but he was still hyper-conscious of Marinette sitting next to him. He could feel her gaze like a physical presence on his skin, but it didn't make him uncomfortable. It had weight, but he somehow felt _less_ restricted, like he could really be himself. It was strange and confusing, and he didn't want it to end. He wanted this feeling to continue until the sun came up, but it couldn't. At some point, the song had to stop. Marinette had to go home. The moment had to end. He knew it, but he didn't like it. So, when the last notes rang out and his song came to a close, Adrien didn't move. He didn't speak. He didn't do anything. He couldn't. He didn't want to be the one to break the strange connection that had formed between him and his classmate during these past few minutes.

For a moment, silence hung in the air, like the quiet that followed a heavy rain. Adrien could see Marinette's blue stare on him from the corner of his eye, but didn't turn to look at her. Finally, Marinette broke the silence.

"That was…. Thank you." Her voice was quiet and subdued, completely unlike the boisterous expressiveness he was used to. It was calming. It made his chest tight, though he couldn't understand why.

"Now Princess, this is supposed to be a thank you for _you_. What are you thanking _me_ for?" He chuckled breathily, trying to hide how affected he was by… whatever it was that hung between them. He wasn't doing very well, but Marinette giggled anyway. Had her laugh always sounded that nice? "Besides, you saved my life. This is the least I can do."

"I guess when you put it that way, it does sound kind of silly for me to thank you." Adrien still couldn't turn to face her. Somehow, seeing the way her eyes sparkled under the fairy lights seemed dangerous. "But I wanted to say it anyway." It was already getting hard to breathe, but that last comment mad Adrien choke.

 _Do not look at her. Do not look at her. Do not look at her pretty smile or bluebell eyes. Do not look at the way her hair is falling behind her ear. Do not look at the rosy blush on her cheeks. Do. Not. Look. At. Her._ Needless to say, he was failing in that task quite horrendously.

"Well, I suppose it would be rude to turn down a thank you from a lady." Oh, God, was his voice cracking? It was totally cracking. It was cracking and Marinette had definitely noticed even though she was too nice to say anything and now she thought he was weird or a loser or-

"Cat?" Marinette said, breaking his train of thought.

"Huh? Did you say something, Princess?" Wow, her eyes were really blue. Had they always been that blue? Surely he would have noticed if they were.

"I was asking if everything was alright. You were kind of… spacing out." Crap. Now she _definitely_ thought he was weird. _Way to go, Agreste._

"Oh, I'm fine!" he said just a little too loudly to be believed. "I was- ah- just thinking, you know, about how…. Um… nice it is tonight?" _Why did that sound like a question?! Man up, Agreste!_ "I mean, it's really nice out tonight, isn't it?" _Great. Now we're talking about the weather. Real smooth, Mr. Teen Heartthrob. What next, homework?_

"Yeah, I guess it is nice out." _Oh thank God she's rolling with it_. "It's a bit chilly, though." Marinette punctuated the statement by rubbing her arms.

"Are you cold? Uncomfortable? You're not going to get sick, are you?" It would be just his luck to get Marinette sick when he was trying to do something _nice_ for her.

"No, I'm fine." Adrien sighed in relief. "I should… I should probably get home soon, though. It's… pretty late," she said with a pout. She looked disappointed, and a little bit apologetic, like she was just as reluctant to end their time together as he was.

Adrien shook his head vigorously. _No. She's definitely_ not _thinking that because she's just a friend and_ I'm _just a friend and she doesn't want me to think that she's uncomfortable. That's_ all _. Stop over thinking things!_

"Well, Princess," he said as he stood up, "it seems like our time has come to an end. Alas, this knight must escort you back to your castle." Adrien extended his hand to her and she took it with a small smile.

"You're so dramatic," she giggled.

"Don't lie. You know you love it," he countered with an eyebrow waggle. Adrien was rewarded with another laugh.

"Just take me home, alley cat."

"As you wish, Princess." Then, Adrien swung her onto his back, causing Marinette to make a surprised squeak, and bounded off the roof.

Their trip back to the bakery was silent, but not uncomfortable. The steady sound of Marinette's breathing in his ear and the warmth of her body on his back calmed Adrien to the point that he wondered why he'd even been flustered this evening to begin with. Unfortunately, they couldn't traipse across the Paris skyline all night, so Adrien's boots were soon landing back on Marinette's balcony.

"Here we are, safe and sound," he said as she slipped off his back. He turned to look her in the eye and took one of her hands in his own. "I told you I'd take care of you, Princess," he said with a wink.

"I suppose you did," she replied, amusement clear in her voice. It quickly turned into something more serious, and maybe a little uncertain.

"Marinette?" he asked.

"Um, well, it's just-" She took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts. "I just wanted to say thank you. For tonight. It was… amazing. You didn't have to do any of it." Adrien begged to differ, but his objection was forestalled by Marinette's finger on his lips. "Really. You didn't. You could have just said thanks, or given me flowers again, but you went above and beyond. Thank you."

"You're very welcome, Princess. You deserved every bit of it." Marinette blushed and bit her lip again. She looked away and seemed to consider something, shifting on her feet. After a moment of indecision, she nodded briskly and inhaled deeply before turning to face him again. Then, quickly, she leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

"Good night, Cat." And then she was gone, back down through the trap door to her room, leaving a very flustered teenage boy trying to pick his jaw up off the floor.

* * *

 **Can you feel it? CAN YOU FEEL ME WINKING AT YOU?! BECAUSE I'M WINKING** _ **REALLY**_ **HARD!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello! Me again! Things are really moving along, aren't they? I'm sort writing in the fly here, but I think I can reach the end in somewhere between 5 and 10 chapters. Don't quote me on that, though. These dorks can easily take control and steer the plot in a weird direction.**

 **Also, I forgot to mention last time: the song Adrien plays for Marinette is "Everyday" by Rascal Flatts. Yes I like country music. Bite me.**

* * *

It was Saturday morning. The sky was blue, the birds were singing, and last night Marinette Dupain-Cheng had kissed Adrien on the cheek. Well, technically, she kissed Cat Noir on the cheek, but that was beside the point. The important thing was she'd kissed him. She'd kissed him and he'd… he'd liked it. A lot, actually. Definitely more than he should. Adrien was in love with Ladybug, heroine of Paris, his other half. He should not be getting excited about kisses on the cheek from pretty classmates that smelled like vanilla and strawberries. Yet here he was, lying in bed the next morning, thinking about it.

"I don't see what the big deal is," came Plagg's voice from the desk. "So you got a kiss on the cheek from a pretty girl. How is that a bad thing?" Adrien groaned at his kwami's lack of empathy and threw a pillow over his face.

"You don't understand!" the boy whined. Ugh. Why wasn't there anyone he could _talk_ to about this? In any other situation, Adrien would go to Nino, but there was no possible way to explain how he felt without revealing his identity. The only person who knew enough to understand was Plagg, who was currently gorging himself on cheese again, no doubt getting crumbs all over the keyboard.

"What's not to understand? A girl you like kissed you and you liked it. Seems pretty simple to me." Adrien shot upright.

"I don't like her!" he denied. "Well, I mean, I _like_ her, you know, as a friend, but I don't _like her_ like her."

"Uh-huh," the kwami sad disbelievingly.

"I'm serious!"

"I'm sure you are."

"Plagg!"

"Look kid," the cat-like creature said, turning to his human charge. "I've seen a lot in my day, so I know a crush when I see one. And you, kid, have a crush on this Marinette girl."

"But I _can't_ ," Adrien insisted. "I love _Ladybug_. I _can't_ have feelings for another girl!"

"Kid, you're fourteen. Do you know how many people actually meet their 'true love' at your age?" The boy shook his head. "None. Like, one in a million. Maybe you and Ladybug _are_ meant to be, but that's not something you need to worry about for _years_. You're a _kid_. You're going to have other crushes. Enjoy it while it lasts." Adrien frowned, not liking his love for his Lady being downplayed like that, but had to admit Plagg had a point. It really wasn't common to meet the love of your life so young. It's just…

"Marinette doesn't really like me anyways," the boy said despondently.

 _Oh, right,_ Plagg thought. _This nonsense._

"She didn't have any problems talking to you last week," he reminded his charge.

"Well, I guess so," Adrien said, hugging his pillow. Last week when their friends had all but herded them into the library, he and Marinette had actually had a conversation. It had been…. _Weird_ to talk to her about, well, _her_ without her _knowing_ they were talking about her (what even was his life at this point), but she'd been attentive and really seemed to care about his problems. It wasn't until she started acting strangely at the end that things fell apart. "But there's still something about me that makes her nervous. Who would want to spend time with someone that makes them uncomfortable?" Adrien was so despondent he didn't see his kwami face-palming (or whatever the equivalent was with kwami's little arm… thingies). "I'm not sure I want to do anything with another girl when I still have feelings for Ladybug anyways. It wouldn't be fair to anyone."

"Kid-"

"Adrien, it's time for breakfast," Nathalie called through the door, cutting off whatever Plagg had been about to say.

"Coming!" the boy yelled back, rolling out of bed and getting ready for the day. "We'll talk about this later, okay?" he whispered to his kwami. Plagg simply scowled and went back to his camembert. All of this talk about _feelings_ was starting to wear him out. Why were humans so emotional as teenagers?

* * *

Adrien didn't get time to think about his… feelings for Marinette very much over the weekend. He'd been busy the entire time with modeling work, Chinese lessons, and practicing piano. By the time Monday rolled around, he was still stuck in the same place. He wasn't comfortable calling it a crush, no matter what Plagg said, but even he had to admit that he felt something more than friendship towards his raven-haired classmate.

He'd always liked her. He'd just… never _thought_ of her that way before. His heart had been devoted to Ladybug practically since the moment they met, so even considering another girl had never crossed his mind. Adrien had been content to wait, to win over his Lady, but… what if _she_ didn't want that? What if all Ladybug would ever want from him was friendship? Would Adrien risk ruining their friendship to try and get her to love him? No. No, he wouldn't. Adrien had always respected his Lady's boundaries, and if this was one she wouldn't budge on, he wouldn't force it. He could live without Ladybug's love. He _couldn't_ live without her friendship.

So where did that leave him and Marinette? He liked her, and even if he was unsure of his feelings now, he could definitely _grow_ to love her. She was an amazing person, but… that was what made him hesitate. Marinette was one of the best people he'd ever met. She deserved more than his half-hearted affection. She should have someone who could give her everything, and Adrien couldn't. Part of him would always love Ladybug. It would be unfair to split his heart between them. Right?

"Yo! Adrien!" the blond looked up to see Nino waving to him from the top of the school steps. Huh. He didn't even remember getting out of the car. Heck, he didn't remember getting _into_ the car. He was really spacing out.

"Hey Nino!" Adrien called back, putting his thoughts of Marinette to the side for the moment and walking up to meet his friend. "Good morning."

"It's _Monday_ ," the DJ whined. "There's nothing _good_ about it." The blond laughed.

"Come on, Nino, don't be like that. Monday means you get to see me again!"

"Yet another reason I should have stayed home," Nino sighed. "Saved myself from seeing your ugly mug." He was trying his best to look dejected, but Adrien could see his mouth quirking up at the corners and unmistakable humor in his eyes.

"Oh, _ha ha_ ," the model deadpanned. "Take another shot at my ego, why don'tcha."

" _Well_ , it _is_ a pretty big target…" Adrien gave his friend a flat look and Nino burst out laughing. "Come on, dude, _someone_ has to take you down a peg. What if you started thinking you were actually… _cool_?" Nino sounded appropriately horrified at the thought, so Adrien shoved his shoulder playfully.

"Let's just get to class," he said as he started to walk away. Nino just chuckled and followed after him, content to have put a smile on his friend's face.

"So how was your weekend?" Adrien stiffened slightly, but relaxed (hopefully) before Nino noticed.

"Oh, you know… busy." _I spent Friday night with Marinette in a rooftop garden playing her a song under the stars and may or may not have realized that I might have a crush on her. How was yours?_ "I had to spend all day Saturday with my Chinese instructor. We're reviewing _all_ the character's I've learned so far."

"Yikes," the DJ said with a wince. "That sounds, like, _super_ boring."

"It totally was," Adrien sighed. "You'd think a model would have a more exciting life." Reaching the classroom, the two boys opened the door and stepped inside. "Morning Alya," Adrien nodded to the blogger.

"Sup, Al," Nino said, greeting her as well. "Marinette still not here yet?" he guessed, gesturing to the empty seat in the second row.

"Nope," the redhead laughed. "She _said_ she was awake twenty minutes ago, but…"

"Marinette?" Nino said.

"Marinette," Alya agreed.

 _Marinette_ , Adrien thought. Maybe he could ask Nino and Alya for advice. They were much closer to her… no. If they got any hint that Adrien might like Marinette, they'd meddle and try to 'help' them get together. He'd go to them later, once he was sure how he felt.

The three friends chatted over nothing, waiting for class to start. Approximately thirty-seven seconds before the bell rang, Marinette came bursting in through the door, somewhat out of breath, but on time.

"Morning, everyone!" she called cheerily, and Adrien tried not to notice the slight flush to her cheeks, or the way her bangs looked slightly windswept from the short sprint here. He noticed anyways.

 _Come on, don't be weird._ "Good morning Marinette!" There. That sounded normal, right? He hoped so.

"Oh, uh, um, good morning, Adrien," she said, biting her lip. Her lips were really pink. Was that natural? It didn't look like she was wearing lip gloss- _Stop it_ , he commanded himself. He refocused on his classmate, only to find her already in her seat, whispering to Alya. Oh, well. he should probably work out how he felt before he talked to her anyways.

The bell rang and Ms. Bustier walked in.

"Good morning, class! I hope you all had a nice weekend…"

* * *

 _'Do you know how many people actually meet their 'true love' at your age?'_ Plagg's words rang in Adrien's mind as he bounded over the rooftops. It was late evening, the last rays of the sun beginning to fade over the horizon. Adrien was out on patrol, hoping some fresh air and exercise would help him figure out his current dilemma.

 _True love…_ he thought. He'd always thought Ladybug was his true love, but what if he was wrong? What if it was someone else? Someone he'd never met? What if… what if it was Marinette? They were both still young. They had so much room to grow. As unfair as it seemed to split his heart between Marinette and his Lady, wasn't it just as unfair to never give Marinette a chance to begin with? Ladybug was incredible, but so was Marinette. How could he know whether or not he could care about her more than he did Ladybug if he never tried? Besides, there was the chance that Marinette wouldn't like him that way either.

Which was another problem altogether. Marinette didn't actively dislike him, but she'd never really been very comfortable with him either. Even if he got her used to him, there was no guarantee that she'd want to go out with him.

Adrien sighed, coming to a stop on some random roof. He pulled out an umbrella- _his_ umbrella- from behind his back.

"Why did I even bring this?" he muttered. This umbrella was another point of confusion for him. The fact that Marinette had kept it proved that she at least tolerated him, but she still acted so strangely. Come to think of it, Marinette hadn't started stammering around him until _after_ he'd given it to her to apologize for Chloe's behavior. Before that, she had no problem snapping at him. Even if she hadn't recognized him right away, Marinette _had_ to have realized he was her favorite designer's son by the time he apologized, so his father's name _couldn't_ be what made her skittish around him. And then there was the apology… Marinette didn't hold grudges, at least not to people who apologized. Sure, she had an ongoing feud with Chloe, but that was because the blonde girl never admitted she was wrong. She'd even forgiven him for….

Adrien shook his head, not focusing on the memory. What had happened wasn't important. What was important was that Marinette had forgiven him, and even seemed to respect him for doing so. Heck, she even _said_ she didn't stay angry at people that were truly sorry. Not only had Adrien apologized for the chewing gum incident, it wasn't even really his fault. It didn't make sense that a girl as nice as Marinette would hold a grudge over that. She didn't even seem to still be mad at _Chloe_ for the mean prank, even though she was the one at fault. Marinette didn't even seem to think that it was important anymore. It wasn't a big deal, just Chloe being Chloe. It wasn't a big deal, so why… why did Marinette keep the umbrella? Was it because… it came from him? Did she treasure their friendship as much as he did? Was… was it possible-

"Cat Noir?" a voice called. Adrien turned around immediately, seeking the source to find… Marinette Dupain-Cheng climbing out of her trap door. His eyes widened in realization as he finally took notice of where he was.

 _Stupid,_ he thought. _Stupid, stupid, STUPID!_ He'd been so focused on Marinette that he'd somehow ended up on her balcony! And now she was probably wondering why he was here!

"Oh, uh, hello, Princess," he said, flashing what he hoped was a charming smile. "I was just… out patrolling and… well…" Marinette was fully on the roof now, looking at him curiously with her big blue eyes. What could he say, what could he say? He couldn't tell her he was standing there thinking about some stupid- _the umbrella_. "I was just out and I thought I'd return this to you." He held out the umbrella, offering it to her. She perked up in surprise.

"Oh! I didn't really expect you to bring it back," she said, taking it.

"It seemed important." She stared at him for a moment before smiling softly.

"It is. Thank you." He should go now. He should leave. He had no more business here. He should go before he did something-

"Why?" –stupid.

"Huh?" Marinette cocked her head to the side cutely in confusion.

"Why, uh, why is it important? You… you said a friend gave it to you, right?" _What are you doing?_

"He did," Marinette nodded, ignorant to Adrien's internal battle. "I'm surprised you remember that."

"Well, Princess, you really are un _fur_ gettable." _Stop. Punning. Stop punning and GO._

"You're such a flirt," she giggled. "But yes, it is from a friend." She bit her lip and looked away, a light blush across her cheeks.

"Are you two, uh, close?" _WHY ARE YOU STILL GOING?!_

"Not as close as I'd like to be," Marinette admitted.

"Oh? Is there a reason why?" This was wrong. He shouldn't be fishing for information out of Marinette behind the safety of his alter-ego. If he had a question, he should ask it as _himself_. But he had to know.

"I-it's none of your business!" she told him as her cheeks grew darker. Adrien wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed.

"Oh, uh, well, I'm glad I gave it back… I guess," he replied dumbly, his hand going back to scratch his neck. Adrien looked down to his feet and scuffed his boot on the balcony concrete. "I guess I should-"

"Do you want to stay a bit?"

….

 _What did she just say?_

* * *

 _What did I just say?_

Marinette had been having a fairly average evening, thinking about school, homework, Adrien Friday night _things_ , when she'd heard some grumbling from her balcony. Imagine her surprise when she found the boy she _totally hadn't_ been thinking about crouching on her balcony staring at an umbrella. Her umbrella, actually, or rather Adrien's. She really hadn't expected to see it again, so it was a nice surprise that Cat Noir had brought it back for her.

Everything was going great, but she had to open her big, fat mouth and ask him to _stay_. What was she _thinking_? She'd already spent the entire weekend confused over how Friday night had made her feel, and she goes and _offers_ to spend more time with him out of the suit _which was what was causing these problems in the first place_?!

Cat seemed just as shocked as she was, so it took him a moment to respond.

"I-I'd love to." _Why did he say yes?!_ It wasn't like Marinette didn't _like_ spending time with Cat, it was just… she needed distance. She needed to reset all of the boundaries she'd put between them. She needed to keep things professional. She needed to be _Ladybug_. But she couldn't. Not when he was standing there, looking like some sort of lost kitten. Oh, why did she have such a weakness for baby doll eyes? He wasn't even _trying_ to use them!

"Would you… like to sit down?" she asked hesitantly.

"Oh, uh, sure," he said, situating himself on the box in front of her deck chair.

"Oh, you don't have to sit there!" Marinette protested.

"Princess, I can't take your chair."

"But you're a guest!"

"I'm also a gentleman. What kind of gentleman lets a lady sit on a box when there's a chair right there?" Marinette puffed out her cheeks in frustration, but eventually sat down in the chair. Cat could be stubborn about the weirdest things, and this wasn't one she wanted to fight him on. "So…" he said awkwardly.

"So…" she echoed. Oh, God, _why_ had she invited him to stay?! What were they supposed to talk about? She couldn't think of anything! At this rate he was going to think she was some kind of weirdo that doesn't know how to talk to people and-

"ROOO!"

Marinette squeaked as something stirred behind her in a mass of feathers, causing Cat to sneeze loudly.

"Jacque!" Marinette scolded, turning to find the offending pigeon resting on the head of her lounge chair. The smug bird even had the gall to give her a blank look. She scowled.

"J-Jac-achoo! Jacque?" Cat managed to ask. He was holding his nose in a desperate attempt to keep from sneezing again.

"Oh, yeah, um, Jacque. Jacque the pigeon," she said, standing to shoo away the creature. "Shoo! Go on, get!" she hissed, waving her hands at it. Fortunately, Jacque left. Unfortunately, he left _behind_ yet more feathers that sent Cat sneezing again.

"ACHOO! ACHOO!"

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry! Here, I'll go get you some tissues," she said, moving to the trapdoor. Cat simply nodded as he valiantly tried to keep in his sneezes. Judging from what Marinette heard after she entered her room, he wasn't very successful. She cursed under her breath. That stupid bird.

Marinette grabbed a box of tissues off her desk- ignoring a pointed look from Tikki- and climbed back up onto the balcony.

"Here," she offered, handing Cat the tissues.

"Tha-than-CHOO!" Cat managed, taking the box. His eyes were watering and he was coughing a lot. Marinette felt awful.

"I'm sorry," she fussed, rubbing Cat's back.

"Wh-why are you apologizing, Princess?" he said, trying to get his usual swagger back (he wasn't doing very well). "Did you _mean_ to sic that pigeon on me or something?" He gave her a cheshire grin, but the effect was muddled by his teary eyes.

"Well, no, but-"

"But nothing. It wasn't your fault, so there's nothing to apologize for, right?"

"…. Right," she replied with a small smile.

"Though… it _did_ seem like you knew that pigeon. Can I hear _that_ story?" he asked, giving her a mirthful look. Marinette giggled.

"I _suppose_ ," she drawled dramatically, drawing a snicker from the feline superhero. "But there really isn't much of a story," she told him as she sat back down again. "He's just this pigeon that lives nearby. I fed him once, and now he keeps coming back." She punctuated the statement with an irritated scowl. Honestly, feeding that sky rat had been a mistake. Now he showed up at least once a week to bother her! "That'll teach me to feed strays."

"Oh, I don't know Princess, you don't seem to have learned your lesson," Cat teased. "After all, you fed _me_."

"Yeah, and now I can't get rid of you, either. Sure shows me," she smirked.

"Well, in all fairness Princess, I haven't seen you trying too hard. After all, _you're_ the one that invited _me_ to stay a while," he said, wiggling his eyebrows playfully.

"Only because you showed up on my rooftop looking like a lost kitten," she snorted. The two teens chuckled softly. This was familiar territory; bantering with her partner. It felt natural. "Seriously, though," she prodded. "Nothing's wrong, right? I mean, not that it isn't nice to see you, but…" she trailed off, biting her lip.

"My visits aren't normally under the best circumstances, are they?" he sighed. Marinette nodded.

"Basically."

"Well, worry not, Princess! All is well! I just…" he paused thoughtfully. "I just needed to get out and think."

"But not about anything bad," she guessed. Cat chuckled and shook his head.

"No, no, not bad. Just…" He gave her a meaningful look. "Important."

"Oh," she squeaked. She wasn't sure what to say to that, especially when he looked at her that way, so she cleared her throat and changed the subject. "So, anything interesting happen lately?"

"You do realize you're talking to a superhero, right?" he said incredulously. He coked an eyebrow and Marinette flushed.

"Well, uh, of course!" She wasn't going to let him tease her. "Though, I guess if I wanted to her any of the _juicy_ stuff, I should've asked Ladybug," she sassed.

"Oh? You don't think I'm interesting?" he challenged.

"Not particularly," she replied airily. She turned away absently, trying to hide the small grin on her face. She was pretty sure he saw it anyways.

"Don't you mean _paw_ ticularly?" Cat drawled.

"No," Marinette deadpanned. "No I do not." There was a moment of silence, then the two companions burst out laughing. It felt nice to get to talk to Cat like this, no threat of an akuma attack, no responsibility hanging over her head. The only thing that soured it was the fact that _he_ was still wearing _his_ mask, but she didn't ask him to take it off. She couldn't. It wasn't the right time. _Someday…_ she thought.

* * *

They ended up talking for hours. At first it had been simple banter, but had moved on to more interesting topics like their hobbies, and silly things like their favorite akuma villain.

"I don't know, Mr. Pigeon was _pretty_ awesome," Marinette drawled, enjoying the sour look on Cat's face.

"Ugh, Princess, don't even _joke_ about that! It was _awful_ ," he moaned.

"Don't you mean a _foul_?" she asked innocently. Cat gave her a deadpan scowl.

"I finally get you to pun, and it's against me. I feel betrayed."

"Aw, come on," Marinette giggled. "I didn't mean to _ruffle your feathers_." Cat groaned. "What, I thought that one would really _quack_ you up! Was it too _hawk_ ward?"

"UUUGH! Please _stop_!" he whined, burying his face in his hands.

"Why? A little bird told me you like puns. Don't tell me they were wrong?" Marinette made sure to give him her biggest, most innocent pout. He turned away, groaning louder.

"I've created a monster!" he wailed.

"Well-"

"Marinette!" her mother called from below. "Are still out on your balcony? It's getting late! You could catch a cold!"

"OH, I, UH, I'll be right down, Mama!" Marinette answered.

"Alright, sweetie! And make sure you don't stay up too late! It's a school night!"

" _YES_ Mama!" Marinette turned apologetically to Cat. "I guess it is pretty late, huh?" The sun had long since set, and the moon was starting its trek upwards in the sky. The balcony was lit by the string of lanterns hung along the chimney, giving off a warm glow.

"Yeah, I, uh, I guess it is," Cat said dejectedly. "I should probably go."

"Yeah," Marinette echoed, rubbing her hands together. "That'd probably be best." She couldn't quite meet his eye.

"I guess I'll be seeing you then," he mused, getting up.

"Yeah…" she repeated. Marinette knew it was a mistake, but she looked up at Cat through her eyelashes anyways. He seemed… deflated. She didn't like that look on him. There had to be something she could do…

"Would you like to come back?"

"Huh?" Cat said confusedly, ears perking up.

"I- w-well, I said… would you… like to come back?" She was quieter this time, more unsure. "I mean, it's just that I had a really nice time talking with you, so I thought…" she trailed off and bit her lip again. This was stupid. She was stupid. She shouldn't have asked-

"I'd like that." Marinette's head jerked up, connecting her with Cat's green gaze. His eyes were earnest, but tender, a small smile playing on his lips. "I had fun talking to you too, Princess." Marinette could feel her face heating up slightly, but ignored it. She didn't want to ruin this moment.

"So… another night?" she asked.

"Another night," he answered. Then, ever the gentleman, Cat Noir took Marinette's hand and placed a small kiss on her knuckles. "Good night, Princess."

"Good night, Cat." He stepped away, never breaking eye contact. Then, with one final bow, he was off, launching himself into the starry sky.

"What am I doing?" Marinette mused as she watched her partner disappear into the night.

* * *

 **Now I know our dorks save Paris and all, but let's give it up for the** _ **real**_ **hero of this chapter: Jacque! Just when I was wondering how to get these awkward kidlets to break the tension, he comes and save my behind! Thank you, Jacque! YOU are the true savior of Paris!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Two chapters in one week? What sorcery is this?!**

 **But seriously guys, this chapter has one of my** _ **favorite**_ **scenes! I've been waiting to write it for** _ **months**_ **and I just couldn't keep it to myself! Enjoy!**

* * *

It had been three weeks since that evening on the rooftop, and Adrien kept going back. At first it was because he'd convinced himself it would be rude not to. After all, Marinette had invited him, hadn't she? And she'd done so much for him, it would be wrong to ignore her when she just wanted to hang out. Then it was because he wanted to get to know her better. He loved hearing her laugh, seeing the way her eyes lit up when they talked about fashion, watching her arms fly about whenever she tried to explain s new combo she learned in Ultimate Mecha Strike.

Now, though, now he had no excuse. He knew he should put end this, to stop seeing her in the mask, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Yeah, he could get her to talk to him like this as Adrien _eventually_ , but that would take far too long. He wanted it _now_. So he didn't stop. He kept going back to Marinette's balcony whenever he could, just to talk to her again. Of course, there were immediate consequences to his impatience.

"I'm just _saying_ ," Nino argued as the two boys sat at their desks waiting for class to start, "you've been acting weird lately, dude. Like, spaced out or something."

"I'm just tired, Nino. It's not a big deal." Adrien didn't like lying to his friend, but how was he supposed to explain?

"Nuh-uh. Not buying it. You're _way_ too happy to pull that excuse. You like, have this dopey smile on your face like-" Nino stopped suddenly, something like realization dawning over his face. "It's a _girl_."

"What? NO!" Adrien blanched. How could Nino possibly have guessed? Did he know? How?!

"It's _totally_ a girl! It's that one you told me about last month! The one from work!" Nino looked equal parts intrigued and horrified. "You're not going out with her, are you?" he asked, grabbing Adrien's shoulders.

"What? Nino, what are you talking about?! I told you it wasn't like that!" Was Nino psychic, or was Adrien just that transparent? Common sense favored the latter, but Adrien's pride demanded the former was a viable option as well. "We're just _friends_. I told you nothing happened!" Adrien valiantly kept from blushing and tried to steer the conversation to a more comfortable topic. "Why are you so worked up over this, anyways?" Nino froze up.

"Oh, uh, well- n-no reason," he said, his eyes darting about. Adrien cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh really?" the model drawled. It really was strange that Nino was reacting this strongly. Unfortunately- or fortunately, depending on how you look at it- their conversation was interrupted by Alya walking into the classroom, dragging a sleepy Marinette in her wake.

"Come on, girl!" the redhead chided. "Either stop staying up so late designing or drop out of school! You can't keep sleeping in like this."

"But _Alyaaa_ ," the petite girl whined, rubbing a hand over her tired eyes. Adrien covered his hand with his mouth to stifle a chuckle. Honestly, Marinette could be so cute sometimes.

"No buts, girl!" Alya admonished as she pushed her friend up the stairs to their seats. Marinette groaned, and this time Adrien was far less successful at holding in his laughter. A small snort escaped, causing Marinette's head to whip around towards him with a horrified expression.

 _Crap._

"Good morning, Marinette!" he said cheerily in an attempt to smooth thing out before they spiraled out of control. The _last_ thing he wanted was for Marinette to think that he'd been laughing at her.

"G-g-good morning Adrien!" she squeaked, face bright red. He needed to do something to break the tension.

"You know, I'd be pretty disappointed if you dropped out of school, so maybe you should listen to Alya and stop staying up so late, 'kay?" he teased with a wink. He'd hoped it would calm Marinette down a bit, but it only succeeded in causing her to flush even deeper. She made a strange ' _meep_ ' sound and nodded stiffly, ducking her head and scurrying the rest of the way to her seat. Alya simply shook her head with a knowing smile and followed after, giving the boys a nod as she passed.

Adrien sighed inwardly. Honestly, the better he got to know Marinette as Cat Noir, the more perplexed he was by her behavior around him as Adrien. What could possibly be going through her head?

* * *

Screaming, apparently. All that was going through Marinette's head at the moment were screams of terror and mortification because Adrien had _laughed_ and then he'd _winked at her_ and she couldn't _deal_! Alya's soothing hand rubbing circles on her back helped a little, but could only do so much. Was he laughing _with_ her or _at_ her? Did he think she was cute? No, no that couldn't be! He probably thought she was a workaholic that stayed up all night and didn't shower and looked a mess and, _ohmyGod_ had she even brushed her _teeth_ this morning?!

The designer dropped her head onto the desk and ignored Alya's _completely unnecessary_ chuckle at her antics. Marinette propped her head up onto her elbows and stared blankly at the back of Adrien's head.

 _Why can't I just talk to him like a normal human being?_ She moaned internally.

* * *

Adrien should have known that something bad was bound to happen soon. He was the embodiment of bad luck, after all, and he was long overdue.

It had happened after school. The Gorilla had just dropped him off at home, he'd managed to avoid any of Nino's probing questions, and he'd even gotten Marinette to smile at him. All was right with the world. Then he noticed Nathalie standing at the top of the stairs with a sour look on her face.

"Hey, Nathalie, what's up?" he said, keeping a practiced smile on his face. He was an _Agreste_ , after all. He couldn't let the emotions get the better of him. Nathalie pursed her lips and looked down at her tablet before responding.

"There was an… issue with negotiations over an important deal with a department store in The States that requires your father's immediate attention," she said stiffly. Adrien sighed. That meant he probably wouldn't see his father for at least two weeks. Sure, he didn't get to spend that much time with his father as it was, but he at least _saw_ him every couple of days.

"When is he leaving?" Adrien asked. Nathalie quirked her mouth uncomfortably.

"He's… he's already left, Adrien."

…

"What?"

"He's already left," the woman repeated not looking Adrien in the eye. "His flight was this afternoon, after your lunch-"

"Whatever," the teen huffed, storming up the stairs.

"Adrien-" she said, reaching for his shoulder.

"It's fine, Nathalie," he said, brushing her off. "I just… need to be alone, okay?" He saw her nod out of the corner of his eye as he escaped into his bedroom, slamming the door. Once inside, he threw his bag onto his bed and kicked his desk angrily.

Typical. This was just typical. His father was gone on some important business trip, and not only had he not even bothered to tell Adrien goodbye, he hadn't even let his son know he was _leaving._ He _had_ to have known about whatever problems there were by Adrien's lunch break, yet Gabriel obviously didn't find it important enough to tell his son about. He probably hadn't even told _Nathalie_ to tell him, she'd probably decided to do that on her own so Adrien wasn't wondering where his father was. The gesture might have meant more if Gabriel was around enough for Adrien to notice he was gone in the first place. Heck, it might've taken him a _week_ to notice anything was different at all.

"Hey, kid!" came a shrill voice from his bag. "Just because you're upset, doesn't mean you can take it out on me!" the kwami whined as he flew closer to his charge.

"Sorry, Plagg," Adrien said distractedly. "It's just…"

"Are you okay?" Plagg asked, actually showing concern. Adrien considered the question for a moment. Was he okay?

"No," he answered honestly. "I'm not. But I know who can fix that."

"Wait, what-"

"Plagg, claws out!" And with that, Cat Noir stood in Adrien's bedroom, but not for long. Soon, the feline hero was launching himself over the Paris skyline, clear destination in mind. It only took a few minutes for him to reach the familiar balcony above the bakery, even with being careful not to be seen. It wouldn't be good for him to get caught at Marinette's house in broad daylight, after all. Landing on the balcony, Adrien walked over to the trapdoor and knocked.

"Princess?" he called. "Marinette?" Huh. Maybe she wasn't home yet? She lived right across from the school, but maybe she was doing something with Alya. It wasn't exactly a rare occurrence. He should probably wait until she got back. Except… he was so _visible_ here. What if someone saw him? Waiting inside would be safer. He reached out for the handle, but hesitated. He'd been in Marinette's room several times before, of course, but not since they became friends. Not since… not since he realized that he liked her. It seemed different now. Maybe it would be best for him to just go, talk to someone else. But who? Nino was busy all afternoon with some sort of family even, and Ladybug almost never patrolled this time of day. Alya? She and Adrien weren't that close. Plagg? Better, but that didn't seem right either. Sure, the kwami was great emotional support at times, but he didn't _understand_. Right now, Adrien needed a friend. He needed Marinette. So, stowing away his reservations, he opened the trapdoor and slipped into her bedroom.

Careful not to get Marinette's sheets dirty, he quickly moved off her bed and down the stairs to the main part of her room. He stood awkwardly for a moment, unsure of what to do next. It would be rude to go through Marinette's things. After some hesitation, he sat down in her desk chair to wait. He spun around a few times before something caught his eye. Were those posters? They hadn't been here before, had they? What were they of-

Oh.

OH.

 _OOOOOOHHH._

* * *

Adrien wasn't sure how long he sat there, staring at a… a… well, for lack of a better tern a _shrine_ to himself, but it couldn't have possibly been as long as it felt, because soon he heard the trapdoor in the floor open behind him, followed by Marinette's cheery voice.

"Cat Noir?" Adrien fell out of the chair in surprise, jostling the computer mouse. "What are you-" she stopped short, eyes going wide. Adrien turned to see Marinette's desktop background, full of yet _more_ pictures of him, surrounded by swirly hearts. Even _he_ wasn't dense enough to not know what _that_ meant.

"Uhhhh…" he said intelligently, eyes flickering back and forth between the pictures of him and his steadily reddening classmate.

"Wha-WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM?!" she demanded.

"Uh, well, it's, um, you see-" Adrien desperately tried to formulate a reply as Marinette Dupain-Cheng stalked towards him with a furious blush and murder in her eyes. He backed up nervously, trying to get away, when something tripped him. He swung his arms wildly in an attempt to stop his inevitable fall, but only succeeded in catching one of his fingers in the chart Marinette had hanging from her ceiling. He tumbled backwards onto the chaise lounge before looking up to see… a schedule. _His_ schedule. His jaw dropped and Marinette let out a high-pitched keening noise as she somehow managed to flush even _deeper_.

Now, there should probably been a few things on Adrien's mind at the moment, some very, very _important_ things, but all he could manage was-

"This is so well _organized._ " Marinette let out a mortified squawk and covered her tomato-red face with her hands.

" _You're making fun of me, aren't you?!_ " she whined.

"Nononononono!" he cried, jumping to his feet and waving his hands in front of him. "I was just- it was just- uh, uh, umm…" Oh, God, what could he _say_?

 _Well, at least I know why she's nervous around me as Adrien now_.

 ** _That isn't helpful!_**

 _And internally screaming is?_

 ** _Would you just be productive?!_**

 _Alright, how about this for productive: talking to yourself is probably not a good thing._

 ** _Still not helpful!_**

 _Fine, what about this: say something before Marinette has an aneurysm. I think she's actually turning purple._

 ** _I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY, THAT'S WHY THIS IS A PROBLEM!_**

 _Well, say_ something _, anything! Just say it quick!_

"So, uh… Adrien Agreste, huh?"

 _Why did you say that?!_

 ** _You said say anything!_**

 _Yeah, but not_ that _! Now look at her!_

 **Maybe we should all calm down.**

Alright, now this was getting concerning. Adrien slapped his hands onto his cheeks roughly, bringing himself out of his inner monologue (dialogue? God, he needed therapy) and focusing on Marinette. She was currently curled up on herself on the floor, whining pathetically. He couldn't really blame her. He'd probably be a mess too, if anybody found his Ladybug merch.

"Uh… hey, Princess?" he said tentatively, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Marinette?" His only reply was another squeaking sound (Marinette really had an impressive vocal range, now that he thought about it). "Are… are you okay?" A loud groan told him that no, no she was not. "Do-do you want to… talk about it?" Finally, one blue eye peeked out from behind her hands.

"You think I'm creepy, don't you?" she said in a small voice.

"NO! No, of course not! You aren't creepy! Just… enthusiastic!"

"You think I'm creepy!" she moaned. Unsure what else to do, Adrien led his combusting classmate over to her chaise, where she promptly buried her face in a pillow. He brought the chair over from the desk and sat down backwards in it facing her.

"So… watcha' doin?"

"Smothering myself," came her muffled reply.

"Aw, come on, it's not _that_ bad!" he consoled her. Honestly, this didn't feel real. He was still trying to process the fact that Marinette _liked him_ and he _hadn't known_.

Marinette groaned and propped herself up on a pillow, eyes visible but not looking at him. It was a start.

"You don't have to lie to make me feel better," she mumbled. "I know it's weird." She looked so… _dejected_.

 _Say something to make her feel better!_

"Well…. if it makes you feel any better, Princess, if I could have Ladybug's schedule on _my_ wall, I would." Marinette squeaked again and buried her face into her pillow again, which was not the reaction Adrien had been expecting. Though, he couldn't really tell you what he _had_ been expecting either, so… He cleared his throat.

"So, you uh, like Adrien, huh?" Marinette nodded. Was it weird to be asking about himself like this? Probably. Too bad his brain was too busy arguing with itself for him to plot a logical course of action. He decided to go for it. "Does he know?" _Well,_ now _he does._ Marinette's pig-tailed head shook anyways, completely unaware of her crush's (Oh, God, he was her _crush_ ) ongoing epiphany beside her.

"No," she said meekly. "I haven't told him."

"Ca-can I ask why?" he pried, swallowing thickly. Really, it was a good thing Marinette was too embarrassed to look him in the eye, otherwise she'd be wondering why _he_ was blushing too.

"I just _can't_!" she moaned. "Every time I try to talk to him something foes horribly wrong!" Well, that certainly explained a lot. "Maybe we're just not meant to be together," she whimpered.

"How about a phone call?" he suggested.

 _WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!_

 ** _I DON'T KNOW!_**

"I tried that once, it was a _disaster_!" Marinette sobbed.

"It couldn't have been _that_ bad."

"I called him Hot Stuff," she deadpanned.

She… she _what_?! Adrien could almost feel himself sweating with how hot he was getting under the collar.

"…. Care to, uh, elaborate?" Marinette groaned again and shrunk in on herself.

"It wasn't my idea, but Alya made me call him and it went to voicemail and then I didn't realize I hadn't hung up and I said so many _embarrassing things_ and then…!" She returned to trying to communicate with her pillow by speaking whale. Adrien was flabbergasted. He didn't remember that! Why didn't he remember that?!

"Why do I get the feeling Adrien ever got this message?" he prodded, desperately trying to keep his voice steady.

"Because he didn't?" Marinette squeaked timidly, peeking at him from the corner of her eye.

"Why not?" he asked, leaning in.

"Well, I, uh, _might_ have stolen his phone from his locker before he could read it?"

 _WHAT?!_

"I gave it back!" she defended, sitting up. "I just had to erase the message first! I couldn't let him hear it!" At any other time, Adrien probably would have found the flustered look on Marinette's face absolutely adorable, but he was too shocked to even register _that_.

"So, uh, phone calls are no good," he coughed. He _needed_ to change the subject a bit. "How about something where you don't talk? Like a letter or a present?" Was he really trying to set Marinette up with his civilian self?

 _Yes. Yes you are. SEEK. PROFESSIONAL. HELP._

 ** _SHUT UP!_**

"I tried _both_ of those! They didn't work either! I kept forgetting to sign them!" Marinette wailed, seeking refuge in her pillow again. Adrien blinked, processing this information.

"Sooo… he got a letter and a present from you, but doesn't know?" he asked. She nodded. "… When?"

"… I made him a scarf for his birthday." A scarf? She couldn't mean- "I spent a whole week making it, but when I tried to give it to him at school, Chloe got in the way, so I put it in his mailbox, but I didn't _sign_ it and the next day he came to school saying it was from his _father_!"Oh, God, that _was_ what she meant! _Marinette_ had made Adrien that scarf! He could think about the implications of that later, though. Right now, he had a very important question.

"Why didn't you tell him?" Surely she wanted him to thank her for her gift. It was the perfect chance to talk to him. Marinette sat up and hugged her much-abused pillow to her chest.

"He… he looked so happy thinking it was from his father. I couldn't take that away from him. It would be selfish." She pouted her pink lips and studied her feet intensely.

Selfish? SELFISH?! She thought it was selfish to take credit for a gift she worked hard on for him because he was happier thinking someone else had given it to him? She was….she was just… he had no _words_.

"And the letter?" He'd gone this far. Might as well go all the way. Marinette curled up a bit more as her flush regained steam.

"I… I wrote him a poem on Valentine's Day." She was still resolutely not looking at him, which was fine. It meant she couldn't see the absolute _shock_ written all over his face, because it _couldn't_ be. It _couldn't_ be!

"A poem?"

"Yeah. Alya even got me this special heart card too, but I forgot to sign it again," she moped. Meanwhile, Adrien's head was spinning a mile a minute, because the only card he got on Valentine's Day that fit that description was-

"Why him?" he asked. Marinette's head snapped up, her eyes meeting his for the first time in a while.

"Huh?"

"Why do you care about Adrien so much?" he elaborated. "You only met him this year, and you probably have your pick of any boy in the school, so why Adrien? What makes him special?" His eyes were intense, searching. He _needed_ this answer.

"Why do you ask?" she said defensively. "Is it so hard to believe that someone likes Adrien?" He let out a humorless laugh.

"No," he answered, shaking his head. "No, it's not at all hard to believe that a normal girl would like Adrien Agreste, supermodel teen heartthrob. What I find hard to believe is that _you_ like him, because I know you're better than to fall for petty thing like that. So why?" Marinette scowled.

"He's not _just_ a pretty face!" she argued. "That's not even why I like him! I mean, it is nice, but it's only a bonus." Adrien was hanging on her every word, not believing what he was hearing. "You see, Adrien and I… didn't exactly get off to the best start." That was an understatement. "I thought he was helping Chloe pick on me, so I kind of… blew up at him. He had every right to be angry with me, but the next day…" Marinette sighed and a dreamy look came over her face. "It was raining, and I'd forgotten my umbrella. I was considering just running home when he showed up next to me. I was still pretty rude to him, but that didn't matter. He… he apologized. He said he was sorry for something he didn't even do. He had this look on his face…. It was so lonely and sad, but hopeful, too. I couldn't help but stare. Then he handed me his umbrella and it… well, it closed on me," she giggled. Adrien chuckled a bit as well, remembering the surprise on her face. "He laughed too. That's when I realized… he's so _kind_." She looked at Adrien with imploring eyes. "He grew up so lonely, with Chloe as his only friend, and he's still one of the nicest, most genuine people I've ever met. That's why I love him." Marinette's blue eyes seemed to bore into him, whittling Adrien down to his very core.

Why was breathing suddenly such a difficult task? Adrien's chest felt tight, as if his suit was two sizes too small, and his entire face was practically on fire. His heart was racing, and each beat seemed to pound this new information in, a new realization dawning.

 _I think I love this girl._

Of course he'd accepted his crush on Marinette. it was hard not to when he kept thinking about how pretty her eyes were, or how much he loved it when her hair was down, but this… this changed everything. He wasn't sure how to deal with this epiphany at the moment. He needed space, time to think. He needed to be alone. He needed to _leave_.

"I'm sorry for dumping all this on you," Marinette said, bringing him back the present. "I just… once I get started, it's kind of hard to stop, you know?" The quiet, bashful look she was giving him wasn't doing his heart any favors.

"It's alright." Good, he sounded at least somewhat normal. "You, uh, you needed to get that off your chest." Her answering smile was dazzling. If he wasn't dead already, that probably killed him. Unfortunately, the smile faded, and Marinette gave him a questioning look.

"Why were you in my room, anyways?" she asked guardedly. Oh. Right. Her room. Why _had_ he come in here again? Oh, yeah!

"I, uh, needed to talk to someone," he said, scratching the back of his neck. "I don't really have many friends, so you were the first person I thought of." There was a small gasp, but Adrien ignored it and continued. "When I got here, you weren't home, but I didn't want to sit out on your balcony in the middle of the day, soo…"

"You came inside," she finished.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Not my best idea."

"No," Marinette gigged. "Definitely not." She looked so beautiful when she laughed. She should do it more often. Like, all the time. Or maybe he could take a video of her laughing and ask to keep it? Would that be weird?

 _Yes._

 ** _Quiet, you._**

"So what did you want to talk about?" Marinette asked.

"Oh, uh, nothing," he said evasively.

"Cat, if you were upset enough to come here, it's not nothing." Marinette was gentle, yet firm. He wasn't getting out of this.

"Okay, Princess, you got me," he conceded. "It's not nothing. It's just… I can't really talk about it. I came here because I needed someone to talk _to_ , even if it was just yakking about video games." Now he was the one avoiding eye contact, but he could see Marinette's expression from the corner of his eye. It was full of concern, but not pity. He was thankful for that.

"And me talking about my stupid crush made you feel better?" she asked.

"Princess," Adrien laughed. " _Nothing_ you do is stupid."

"I don't know," she said in mock contemplation. "One time I thought it was a good idea to feed some random pigeon, and look where that got me." She giggled again, and Adrien wished he could bottle up the sound and keep it with him forever.

"Your heart is your greatest strength and biggest weakness, Princess," he said fondly, humor lacing his voice.

"And here I thought it was stairs." Adrien laughed out loud at that one, his voice filling the room. "So you're okay now?" Marinette prodded.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you, Marinette." He turned back to meet her eye, causing her to flush deeply again. "I should probably go, though. Before someone misses me." He really didn't. Nathalie wasn't likely to bother him until that evening, just to make sure he ate something, but he needed to get out to sort through his feelings. He took one of Marinette's hands and placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles. "Until next time, Princess."

"Uh-uh, yeah. Next time," she said somewhat breathlessly. Adrien shot her a cheshire grin before bolting out the trapdoor. He headed for home, unaware that he had just left Marinette melting into a puddle on the floor.

* * *

 **Guys, I think I might have broken Adrien. Our poor cat son is so confused! How will he deal with his feelings?!**

 **Also, I know it's a day early, but happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! You guys are real life superheroes!**


	12. Chapter 12

**You know what, I've been meaning to say this for a while, but I'm proud of me! I've been really good about updating this story! I mean, I've been waiting for my brain to lose interest or shut down or forget, but it, like, hasn't happened? And I'm like? WHY CAN'T I BE THIS GOOD ABOUT MY HOMEWORK, DAMMIT?!**

* * *

What… what just happened?

 _WHAT JUST HAPPEED?!_

Marinette was sitting on her chaise, trying to comprehend the conversation that had just occurred. Cat Noir knew about her crush on Adrien. He knew all the embarrassing details. She _told_ him. _Why did she do that_?!

"Are you okay, Marinette?" Tikki asked, finally leaving her hiding place in her charge's bag.

"No," the girl answered blankly. They looked at each other and blinked once. Twice. Suddenly, Marinette turned beet red and started screaming into the pillow (honestly, what had it done to deserve this kind of mistreatment?). Tikki sighed fondly as her Chosen began to melt down. At least watching over her humans was never boring!

"Why are you so upset, Marinette?" the kwami prodded gently. Marinette peeked out from behind her shield.

"He saw _everything_ ," she whined. Her eyes wandered to the schedule, still hanging there, mocking her, and allowed herself to wallow deeper in her despair.

"Is that so bad? Alya knows about all of that stuff too," Tikki reminded her.

"That's different!" Marinette argued. "Alya… Alya's my _best friend_."

"So is Cat Noir, right?" Marinette groaned in frustration. She was just so… _confused_. She was frazzled, out of her mind, and it was all that stupid cat's fault! It was because he kept coming over to her house with those friendly smiles and stupid jokes and strange looks that made her stomach turn in weird ways!

She sighed. No, that wasn't right. It wasn't Cat's fault, it was hers. She knew that if she told him to stop coming, he would. He was a gentleman like that, which was why it was so impossible to tell him to get lost. She enjoyed spending time with him and didn't want to give that up. He was just… different around Marinette. It was subtle, but he wasn't quite as flamboyant, more sincere… and she liked it. She liked this side of Cat that he didn't show to Ladybug. She wanted to see more of it. The only problem was…. Well, there were a lot of problems, actually.

First and foremost, safety. It was dangerous for both of them to get so close with his mask in the way. That was why Ladybug always insisted on anonymity. She didn't want either of them to get hurt. Second was how dishonest it felt. She was Ladybug, his partner, and he didn't know. It felt like she was lying to him, and she hated it. It was one thing to meet him a few times as a civilian, but this? Knowing him, joking with him, becoming his friend? It felt wrong to keep her identity a secret like this, but she couldn't say anything. She didn't want him to hate her for lying to him. His friendship meant too much to her. Which brought her to third…

In the few weeks Marinette had spent with Cat Noir as herself, she'd seen so many different sides to him. He'd been so open, so sweet, so… _himself_ , and it was making her pay more attention to the little voice in the back of her head that said ' _what if_.' What if she'd never met Adrien? What if she gave Cat Noir a chance? What if… what if she really liked him? That thought… kind of terrified her. It wasn't that she was afraid of being rejected… well, mostly, but she always did her best to ignore the voice that told her she wasn't good enough. It sounded too much like Chloe, and listening to it never ended well. The last time she'd given in to it, Stoneheart had almost killed Alya and Cat. No, she knew Cat would accept her. That just happened to be the problem. What would happen to their friendship if she let herself love him? She was so afraid of things changing and losing what they already had.

And then there was the elephant in the room: Adrien. Marinette was still very much in love with him. How could she not be? He was so sweet and kind, gentle and forgiving, so… so… _Adrien_. Even looking at the back of his head made her heart melt. Marinette couldn't stop loving Adrien even if she wanted to, and quite frankly, she _didn't_ want to. She'd just spent the better part of an hour telling Cat how madly in love she was with her classmate! Could she really give Cat Noir a chance when she was still so hung up on another boy?

"Tikki, why is this so confusing?" she whined.

"Oh, Marinette," the kwami giggled. "Don't get so down! It's normal for people your age to not understand their feelings." The little god floated over to her charge and placed a tiny, fin-like hand on the teen's face.

"It still sucks," Marinette grumbled petulantly. "Maybe I should just swear off boys for good."

"Marinette," Tikki said, moving around so she could look her Chosen in the face. "Do you like Cat Noir?" Her first instinct was to say no, of course she didn't. She never saw him like that. But…

"He didn't care," Marinette mumbled.

"What was that?"

"I just talked his ear off about Adrien and he didn't even care. He's not interested in me like that." She glared at her feet, as if doing so would give her the answers to her problems.

"That isn't what I asked," Tikki chided. She said nothing else, just floated there patiently. Marinette squirmed under her calm gaze.

"…. Yes," she said eventually. It was hard to admit it out loud, but at the same time, she felt an invisible weight lift off of her. "Does that make me a bad person?" she asked meekly, looking to her kwami for guidance.

"Oh, Marinette, liking someone doesn't make you a bad person," Tikki assured her.

"But I've been shutting him down for months!" Marinette argued. "And I like someone else, too! Shouldn't I just love one person?"

"You're young! You're supposed to be exploring your feelings like this! Don't feel bad for something that's natural!" Tikki chirped, moving closer to nuzzle Marinette's face.

"Thanks, Tikki. But I still don't know what I should _do_ ," the girl complained. "And it really _does_ bother me that he didn't seem to mind me talking so much about Adrien."

"I'm sure he has his reasons for that, Marinette. Just because he didn't get angry or jealous doesn't mean he doesn't like you! And even if he doesn't like you now, that doesn't mean he never will!" Tikki's words made her feel a bit better, but she still felt so lost.

"But do I want him to like me?" she countered. "It would be so much easier if things just kept going the way they are now. I'm not sure I want anything to change."

"I think it's a little late to worry about things changing, Marinette." Unfortunately, Tikki was right. Things had _already_ changed.

"It's safer to like Adrien," she argued, not sure who she was trying to convince.

"Well, you're right about that," Tikki agreed, "but I think you should follow your heart, Marinette."

"… How would it even work?" she asked. "Should I talk to him as Ladybug or Marinette? Which is better?" Tikki thought about that for a moment.

"I'm not sure about that, Marinette. It would probably be safer to talk to him as Ladybug, but if you two start spending that much time around each other, considering how well he knows Marinette…"

"He could figure it out," Marinette finished.

"It's your choice, Marinette, but if you don't want to pursue anything right now, Cat Noir's visits have to stop." The girl sighed and nodded, knowing the little god was right. Tikki had been wary of Cat's visits from the start, but no matter how much her kwami advised her against it, Marinette kept inviting Cat back. She just… _couldn't_ send him away anymore. She was letting her emotions guide her actions, and she'd have to deal with the consequences… tomorrow. Right now, she was emotionally burnt-out and needed a break. Besides, she still had homework to do. She already had trouble keeping her grades up with her responsibilities as Ladybug, she couldn't fall behind because that stupid cat was mucking up her feelings. So, with great reluctance, she turned to her _second_ greatest enemy: her physics homework.

* * *

Adrien started pacing the second his boots hit his bedroom floor, dropping his transformation and pressing his hands over his mouth.

"Wow, that was some talk!" Plagg said as he came out of the ring. "You doin' okay, kid?"

"Marinette likes me."

"Really? What was your first clue?" the kwami replied sardonically.

"Marinette _likes_ me!" Adrien repeated, still pacing.

"You just said that."

" _Marinette_ likes _me_!"

" _Yes_ , you _just_ said that, _twice_ ," Plagg groaned as he trailed along behind his still-pacing chosen. "You hit your head or something, kid?"

"Maybe. Probably. I just- I can't _believe_ it!"

"What _I_ can't believe is what took you so long," Plagg drawled. Adrien stopped suddenly and turned on his kwami.

" _What?_ "

"I mean, she wasn't exactly _subtle_ about it. It was pretty- what was the word you used?- _enthusiastic_ ," he continued, snickering. The look of sheer disbelief on Adrien's face almost made up for the aggravation of the boy not figuring it out on his own- _almost_.

"You _knew_?!" Adrien yelled incredulously.

"I mean, _yeah_. It wasn't hard to figure out. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you were the only one that _didn't_ know about it." Oh, this was fun. Adrien's expression was a mixture of shock, irritation, betrayal, and disbelief. Plagg cackled, rolling over in the air as the boy tried to process this new information.

"Wha-whe- _why didn't you tell me?!_ " he demanded. Plagg stopped laughing long enough to deign him with an answer.

"Well _first_ of all, I thought you knew. It wasn't until you started spouting that _'Marinette doesn't like me'_ nonsense that I realized you didn't. Second, it was funny!" Adrien couldn't believe this. had Marinette's crush on him really been so obvious? Was he really that blind?

 _Apparently._

Maybe he should start looking into therapy.

But, even as he tried to deny it, the more Adrien thought, the clearer things became.

 _"Even if you_ are _amazing- at holding things! In your hands!"_

 _"I mean, not as awesome as_ you _, you're the most_ awesome _of awesome."_

 _"I love-_ guys like that _! I love guys like that! Not that I_ love _you or anything, except well, maybe as a friend, like Nino! Yeah, like Nino! But different!"_

"Oh my God."

"Careful, kid. Don't wanna strain yourself." Adrien ignored Plagg's comment.

Marinette _liked_ him- no _loved_ him, and he hadn't realized! The valentine he thought came from Ladybug, the scarf he thought came from his father- they were from her! They were Marinette's way of trying to tell him how she felt! He went over to his dresser and pulled out a familiar blue scarf. It was so soft. Each of the stitches was uniform, obvious care put into each one. She'd spent a _week_ making this for him, hoping to get some recognition from the boy she liked, and gave away the credit because she thought that would make him happier. True, it did sting that his father had forgotten his birthday present, it was no worse than when he didn't show up for parent's day or left without saying goodbye. Wow, had that really been this afternoon? It was strange to think that Adrien had been so upset about his father just a few hours ago when he felt like he was walking on air. _Marinette liked him_.

Wait.

Marinette liked _Adrien_. Not Cat Noir. He had… mixed feelings about that. He'd always felt like his superhero persona was better, more free. Being Adrien was… stifling. He felt weak, and not just because he didn't have magical powers. He hardly had any say in what went on in his own life- the only reason he was even allowed to go to school was because Nathalie interceded on his behalf. Sure, he had girls fawning over him, but they liked Adrien the _model_ , not Adrien the _person_. Not Marinette, though. She didn't care that he was rich or a model, or even her favorite designer's son. She liked him for _him_ , and as good as that felt, he wondered. Would Marinette still love him if she saw his goofier side? The one she and Ladybug rolled their eyes at when he was Cat Noir? If she saw the real him, both sides bared, would she still like him?

It was… a sobering thought. Except… hadn't she already seen that part of him as Cat Noir? When he visited her in the mask, away from all of the pressures from both personas, he felt more like himself than ever. She had a way of making him be more honest with himself. Sure, she'd never shown romantic interest in Cat Noir, but what if that was because she already loved Adrien? Did he- did he really have a chance?

But how would that even work? How should he approach her? She already like Adrien, so if he asked her out as his civilian self he was guaranteed a yes, and it was safer for her that way as well. The only problem was that Marinette was smart. He'd visited her enough as Cat Noir for them to know each other pretty well. He wouldn't be able to keep the charade up for very long. Besides, he'd have to cut back on visiting her as Cat, and even if he managed to do that without hurting her feelings, there was no way she wouldn't get suspicious. And there was no way she wouldn't question him leaving during every akuma attack.

So was Cat Noir the right answer? But it was so dangerous. If anyone ever found out, they could try to use Marinette against him, and even the thought made his stomach turn. Having an actual relationship would be hard in the mask, too. She wouldn't be able to tell anyone, so she'd have to lie to her friends and family, and if some guy started hitting on her, she wouldn't be able to get him to back off by telling him she had a boyfriend. Dates would be a challenge, too. Hanging out on her balcony was all well and good as friends, but a girl like Marinette deserved the best. He wanted to walk down the street holding her hand and not have to worry about someone trying to hurt her. Adrien was the better option, but his secret identity…

There was always the option to not pursue Marinette at all, but that idea was shut down as soon as it popped into Adrien's head. He'd already given up on Ladybug because she didn't want him. Marinette did, and he wasn't going to back down without a fight.

There was no safe way to see Marinette without revealing himself, and that wasn't a decision he wanted to make without consulting Ladybug. She wouldn't be happy with him. She'd been so adamant about keeping their identities secret, and he'd gone and blown it. and it was all because he couldn't just wait a bit and get to know Marinette better as Adrien. Truly, he was the model superhero.

Plagg, who had been hovering off to the side, waiting for his boy to sort through his messy emotions, decided to take pity on him and impart some wisdom

"Listen kid," he said, moving to stand- er, float- in front of the teen. "I know you're confused and all, but nothing good'll come from over thinking things. You should take a break and look at it again in the morning." Adrien looked over to the clock on his computer. It was 5:56. Nathalie would be calling him down for dinner soon, or at least coming to check on him to make sure he ate. Then he had to practice the piano and finish up some homework and go to bed so he wouldn't be tired at school tomorrow.

"You're right, Plagg. I'll think about it more in the morning."

"Of course I'm right," the kwami boasted, puffing out his tiny chest. "I'm a genius, you know. That Einstein guy is nothing compared to _me_!"

Adrien chuckled softly. "Sure, Plagg. Whatever you say," he assured, scratching the little god's head with his finger. Plagg closed his eyes and purred softly.

"And don't you forget it."

" _Adrien, time for dinner!_ "

* * *

Adrien still wasn't sure what to do about his situation with Marinette the next morning. He was still confused and worrying about what was going to happen.

Fortunately, it ended up not mattering.

Unfortunately, that was because an akuma decided to attack the school.

His bodyguard hadn't even pulled around the corner when they heard screaming coming from the building. Mr. Haprele and Mr. Dargencour were trying to direct students out the front door, but there was so much panic that people kept tripping each other. It was all the two men could do to keep them from being trampled.

Adrien bolted out of the car before the Gorilla could turn around and take him back home, rushing to the school wall and slinking along the side to avoid the crowd. He kept low, trying to avoid detection long enough to find a good place to transform. Eventually, he reached the steps and ducked around the corner, making his way to the door. Pressing his back against to doorframe, he cautioned a glance inside.

Most of the students had managed to get out by this point, so he had a clear view of the courtyard- and the akuma. It had its back turned to him, seemingly struggling with something in front of it, so Adrien was able to get a good look. From what he could tell, the akuma was dressed like the prince from Snow White with a blue tunic over grey leggings with brown boots and a red aramis cape slung over one shoulder. He had a sword strapped to his hip and a sharp, pointy crown sitting on top of his black hair.

Adrien was just about to sneak behind some bushes when he heard something that made his blood run cold.

"Let go of me!"

"Stop struggling, Princess. I don't want to hurt you," the akuma said, shifting enough for Adrien to see just what- or rather, _who_ \- had been occupying his attention. Standing there, struggling against the akuma's firm grasp on her wrists, was Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

* * *

 **MuwahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! DANCE! DANCE FOR ME IN THE COMMENTS, SLAVES, FOR I. AM. YOUR.** _ **GOD**_ **!**

 **I JUST SPENT 11 HOURS DOING INVENTORY! I REQUIRE YOUR TEARS AS TRIBUTE TO REFUEL MY DARK POWERS!**

 **HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hmmm. There seems to have been a sufficient amount of suffering. This pleases me. Very well, you may have the next chapter.**

 **Voice of Reason: Oh, please. You've been dying to give it to them.**

 **I THOUGHT I GOT RID OF YOU!**

 **Voice of Reason: You CAN'T. Please, stop trying. It's embarrassing.**

 **HEY! I'M the main personality! Show some respect or I'll throw you in with the fujoshi!**

 **Voice of Reason: No! I don't want to go in the basement! It's dark in there!**

 **But gosh, if all I had to do to get a lot of comments was give you guys a cliffhanger, I would have done it sooner! (Not really) This chapter has gotten more comments and reviews than** _ **any**_ **of the previous ones, and on both sites too! And I** _ **never**_ **get that many views on a Wednesday! Hmmmm. Now I have ideas…**

* * *

Marinette wasn't sure what she expected that day, but getting targeted by an akuma again wasn't at the top of her list.

The day started out normally, with her waking up to one of her various alarms (it only took four that day, which she counted as a personal victory) , ate some breakfast, gave each of her parents a kiss goodbye, and walked across the street to school. She wasn't late for a change and was really looking forward to talking to Alya. Sure, she couldn't tell her best friend about her boy troubles, but the normalcy it brought was always enough to make her feel better.

Then Chloe happened.

She hadn't caused an akuma for at least two weeks, so she apparently decided she was long overdue. Her current victim was the dark-haired boy from Ms. Mendeleiev's class- Wei, if she remembered correctly. His family owned a restaurant in _Quartier Chinois_ that Marinette's mother liked to take them to when she was feeling a bit homesick. Marinette had known hm for a while, but they'd never been particularly close. He was a nice boy, and certainly didn't deserve whatever Chloe was trying to pull.

They were already deep in an argument by the time Marinette walked up.

"What is it this time, Chloe?" she said, exasperated. The blonde turned around, a snide grin crossing her face.

"Well, if it isn't Marinette Dupain-Cheng," she sneered, saying Marinette's name with her usual distaste. "What excellent timing you have! We were _just_ talking about you!" Marinette simply sighed in irritation. Chloe wasn't worth getting upset over, but she was still a pain to deal with. The dark-haired girl wondered if it was good or bad that Alya wasn't here yet. It was good because the fiery red-head wouldn't get into another fight with the snobby rich girl, but bad because Marinette didn't have any solid back-up. She didn't really need it much anymore, but the emotional support still felt nice.

"Look, Chloe, I don't really _care_ what you say about me. Your opinion doesn't matter. But would you mind not making a scene in front of the whole school? You're bothering everyone." Marinette moved to stand between Chloe and Wei, hoping that the blonde's attention would focus on her instead.

"Still fighting other people's battles for them, huh, Marinette?" Chloe taunted. "And here poor diner-boy was trying to be your prince charming! Talk about rude!"

"Just leave her alone, Chloe!" Wei shot back. Marinette turned and put a calming hand on his shoulder.

"It's fine, Wei. Just ignore her. She isn't worth it." She gave him a reassuring smile. Wei scowled, clearly unconvinced, but backed down nonetheless. Marinette sighed with relief. Maybe there wouldn't be an akuma today after all.

"Hmf! If you ask me, _you're_ the one who's worthless, Marinette! In fact, you two suit each other! Diner-boy and baker-girl! A matching set!" Chloe laughed snidely as she walked off to the classroom, Sabrina trailing behind. Wei growled angrily, chest puffing up in indignation.

"Hey! Just calm down, alright?" Marinette said soothingly. "It doesn't bother me. Chloe's just full of hot air." She smiled again and blinked, waiting for Wei to calm down. The boy flushed and shuffled away, muttering something under his breath. "Wei?" she asked innocently.

"It's nothing, Marinette," he said, shifting his bag on his shoulder and looking away. "I'll see you later."

"Wei…" she called, but he was already on his way to the boy's locker room, knuckles white on the straps of his bag. Marinette sighed, hoping nothing would come of it.

She was wrong. Of course she was wrong. When had Hawk Moth _ever_ made things easy for her? Never, that's when. So she really shouldn't have been surprised when, a few minutes later, an akuma burst into the courtyard dressed like a prince from a fairy tale- aside from the mask surrounding his crazed eyes, of course. She shouldn't have been surprised when the akuma, Prince Harming, made a beeline straight for her and grabbed her by the wrists. She shouldn't have been surprised that it was poor Wei, upset over Chloe's usual bad behavior, had decided to take it upon himself to right the situation.

She shouldn't have been surprised, but she was. She _hated_ it when an akuma targeted her. It made it so much harder to get away and transform, which she needed to do if she wanted to fix this. So she struggled against Prince Harming's lock on her hands, trying to break free, even though she knew it was hopeless without her Ladybug strength.

"Let go of me!" she cried.

"Stop struggling, Princess. I don't want to hurt you," Prince Harming said smoothly, tugging her closer.

"Wei! Stop it! I told you, this isn't worth getting upset over!" Reaching out to an akuma had never worked in the past, but hey, she was an optimist. It couldn't hurt to try.

"Oh, Marinette," the villain murmured, taking her chin in his free hand. "That's what's so great about you. But," his face darkened, "it's also _exactly_ why I won't put up with this anymore. You're _my_ princess, and no one, _especially_ Chloe Bourgeoisie, is allowed to talk about you like that."

"Wei-"

"I'm not Wei, I'm Prince Harming! I'm not the loser who can't protect you or tell you how he feels anymore!" Marinette's eyes widened. Tell her… how he felt? Did Wei… like her? Sure, it wasn't an absurd notion, but she'd known him for years and he hadn't said anything. Why hadn't-

"Mmmff!" Any further thought was immediately stalled by Prince Harming lifting Marinette's face to his and kissing her full on the mouth. She was so shocked she stilled for a moment before finally managing to wrench free one of her captured wrists and slapping the akuma as hard as she could. "How dare you!" she fumed as she hit and smacked at the arm still holding her prisoner. Prince Harming merely laughed and rubbed his jaw.

"You really are the best, aren't you, Princess? And now you even look the part!" Marinette furrowed her brow, confused as she looked down at herself to find-

A pretty pink princess dress. Wonderful. At least it looked nice. She would have had to personally hut Hawk Moth down and strangle him if he'd put her in some ugly, frilly monstrosity. Her dress had a straight cut neckline with off-the-shoulder sleeves and beading all across the bodice. The skirt was simple, puffy tulle that flared out at the hips. The entire thing was one of her favorite shades of pink, and she could almost make out matching shoes underneath it. Her hair was down, too, with what she assumed to be a tiara sticking into her scalp. All in all, a very nice outfit. That didn't stop it from being embarrassing though.

She looked and _felt_ like Princess Peach!

 _This day can't possibly get any worse._

She was wrong again, of course.

* * *

Adrien was _seething_. It had taken a minute to pry his feet off the steps so he could get away and transform, but he did it, even though his every instinct was screaming at him to go back there and rip Marinette from the akuma's arms. No, he couldn't do that. Not as Adrien, anyways. He needed to be Cat Noir. _Marinette_ needed him to be Cat Noir. So he ducked behind the stairway and called for Plagg. He raced back up the steps, only to find something that set his frozen veins on fire. The akuma. Kissing Marinette. The _akuma_. _Kissing Marinette_.

Adrien barely registered Marinette's reaction, or the magical flash that changed her into a dress, over the grinding of his teeth.

 _How dare he!_ How _dare_ he! It would have been one thing if Marinette had kissed another boy of her own free will. Adrien would still be jealous, but not angry. Marinette was her own person after all. But _this_ was unacceptable. She was scared, didn't want it, trying to get away, and _didn't want it_. _No one_ touched her like that without her consent, _period_ , _especially_ not an akuma! Adrien was halfway across the courtyard before he even knew what he was doing- not that thinking would have stopped him.

"-ou even look the part!" the akuma was saying, but Adrien didn't care. That _thing_ needed to get away from Marinette _now_. Adrien's had snapped out and grabbed the akuma by his forearm with crushing force.

"Sorry, but I think she's a bit to classy for a Disney reject like you," he said. Adrien had the presence of mind to keep his tone light and teasing so as to not let Hawk Moth on to how much Marinette meant to him. He couldn't quite keep the edge out of his voice, though.

The akuma hissed in pain and finally, _finally_ , let go of Marinette's arm.

"Cat Noir," he seethed, a glowing butterfly appearing around his eyes. "I am Prince Harming! No one will keep me away from my princess!" Adrien's eye twitched. He'd been too shocked to register it before, but _this jerk was using **his** nickname for Marinette!_ He barely contained a low growl.

He mentally shook himself. It was no time to be worrying about his temper. Getting Marinette to safety came first. So, Adrien roughly shoved ' _Prince Harming_ ' away, grabbed Marinette around the waist (eliciting an adorable 'meep'), and vaulted out of the school before the villain could regain his balance. Adrien's anger was partially pacified by the weight and feel of Marinette in his arms, but was still eager to end the battle as soon as possible. Luckily, Prince Harming wasn't very fast on his own, so the feline superhero was able to easily outrun him. Adrien held Marinette tightly as he scanned the Paris skyline for a safe place to hide her. His eyes landed on Le Grand Paris and he swung the two of them onto the roof.

Marinette let out another small squeak as he gently set her down, but she seemed off-balance and clung to his forearms.

"Sorry about the quick exit, Princess, I just wanted… wanted to…" whatever words Adrien had been about to say disappeared into a puff of smoke as he finally got a good look at Marinette's outfit. She was _beautiful_. She looked like an actual princess, and it was very troubling because it was stealing his ability to form coherent sentences. "I-I…. uh…"

"Cat?" she asked with an innocent flutter of her lashes. "Are you alright?" No. No he was not. He was dead. She had killed him, because there was no way she could _possibly_ be this pretty, even if she _was_ Marinette. It just… it made no sense!

 _She's asking a question, genius!_ Adrien abruptly snapped back to reality and Marinette's concerned face.

"Are you sick? You're turning red," she said worriedly, leaning in closer. He choked a bit before managing to spit something out.

"Oh, I, uh, fine I am, I mean, we're fine, wait no _I'm_ fine, not that you aren't, uh- _you are very attractive!_ " He blinked. She blinked. Did he really just say that?

 _Yes._

Adrien and Marinette's faces heated up simultaneously and they were suddenly unable to meet each other's eyes.

"SO! Uh, the akuma!" he said eloquently, snatching his hands away from hers to rub the back of his neck.

"Oh! Yeah, right. That," she agreed, cradling her arms to her chest. "You should, uh- you should probably go take care of that."

"Right! Of course! I'll uh, go do that now. Stay safe, citizen!" Oh, just _shoot him now!_ He didn't even bother to wait for Marinette's reaction as he rushed off to find the akuma again,trying to get back into a 'hero' mindset. For some reason, it was much harder now than it was when he'd had Marinette slung over his shoulder in her pajamas.

 _I thought we were repressing that._

 ** _Oh, SHUT UP!_**

* * *

It wasn't a particularly hard battle, at least, not after Marinette got her head straight and started to focus. Prince Harming wasn't a very physically intimidating villain. His only power seemed to be whatever that kiss thing was he'd done with her, so it was fairly easy to trap him with a Lucky Charm and a well-timed Cataclysm.

Soon enough, Marinette was holding out her fist for the customary 'pound it' with her partner, only to find him distracted. Cat Noir was turned away from her, looking in the direction of the hotel.

"Cat Noir?" she said, snapping his attention back to her. "Are you alright?" She knew he was worried about her, or rather, Marinette, but Ladybug had to play dumb.

"Oh, I'm fine, m'lady, just, uh, thinking about the civilian this akuma was after." He reached back to scratch his neck nervously and shifted on his feet. "I… I think I'll go check on her!" What? NO!

"Wait!" Marinette cried, grabbing his hand. "You don't need to do that, I'm sure she's fine!" She was also very much not where he left her.

"I'm sure you're right, but I should check," he insisted, pulling away again. Marinette desperately searched for a reason to stall him.

"But…uh, what if she isn't there anymore!"

"What?"

"I mean, did you ask her to wait for you or something?"

"No," he said thoughtfully, shaking his head.

"So she might have gone home! And you're about to change back anyways," she reminded him, gesturing to his ring.

"I guess you're right-"

"Of course I am! So you should wait to recharge before you go check on her! You know, just to be on the safe side!"

"Okay…" he said reluctantly. "But what if-" He was cut off by the beeping of both of their Miraculous.

"You worry too much. Gotta go!" she called over her shoulder as she scampered away from the very conflicted kitty behind her. Marinette didn't pay him any mind as she swung back to her house and dropped onto her bed a few seconds before her transformation fell. Tikki swirled out of the earrings and into her Chosen's cupped hands.

"Well, that was close," the little god chirped. Marinette nodded in agreement.

"Hopefully Cat will listen to me- er, Ladybug- and not go straight to check on me, well, Marinette-me." The girl sighed dramatically. "Why do these things always happen to _me_ , Tikki?

"Oh, Marinette," the kwami giggled. Marinette decided to ignore the implications of that and focused back on the matter at hand.

"Anyways, you should go hide in your drawer for now. Cat Noir will be coming to check up on me here as soon as he realizes I'm not at the hotel anymore."

"Are there cookies in there?" Tikki asked, trying to hide the excitement in her eyes (she failed, and it was adorable).

"Of course," Marinette chuckled, scratching her kwami's head softly.

"Yay!" And with that, Tikki flew down to her drawer to rest and charge up, leaving Marinette alone on her bed to wait. She didn't have to wait long, though, as only a few minutes later an incessant knocking started coming from her trapdoor. She smiled fondly. Her kitty must have been really worried about her. She reached up to open the door and poke her head out.

"Hello the-" the second her head came out of the room, she was swept up in a tight embrace. Cat placed his face in the crook of her neck as his arms wrapped around her securely. "C-Cat?" she said with some surprise.

"I'm sorry, Princess," he muttered into her neck, his breath blowing warmly against her skin. She suppressed a shiver.

"W-what?" It was a little hard to think with him close like this, his scent overpowering her.

"I didn't- couldn't-" his hold on her tightened, not enough to be painful, but enough to show her how upset he was.

"What's wrong, kitty?" she asked gently, one of her hands moving to his hair. It was more intimate than they'd been before, but somehow it just felt right. He pulled away a little bit to look her in the eyes.

"He _kissed_ you," Cat said. "And you didn't _want_ it. I should've- I shouldn't have let that happen to you." Mariette could see the emotion in his eyes, the guilt he felt over not being there for her. It broke her heart to see him so distressed.

"Do you want to come inside so we can talk about it?" she suggested gently. Cat nodded and moved to enter her room. Unfortunately, in the process, he tripped over the lip of the trapdoor and sent both of them sprawling onto the bed. Marinette let out a small squeak and lit up like a traffic light.

"Oh! Uh, I'm-I'm so sorry!" Cat stammered as he lifted himself off her. "I didn't mean…" He trailed off, staring at her. Marinette's face grew more and more red as she thought about the situation she was it- pinned under her partner on her bed. She opened her mouth to say something- anything- but no words came out. All she could do was look into Cat's deep green eyes, hoping he would break the silence.

He didn't. Instead, he bit his lip thoughtfully, before refocusing on her with an intense look. He didn't speak, but his eyes held a question: _May I?_ Her mouth went dry as she considered it. Should she let him? Was it really a good idea? A million questions ran through her mind, but none of them could stop the small nod she gave, _Yes._

And then he was kissing her.

* * *

He was kissing her. He was kissing _Marinette_ , and in that moment, Adrien couldn't remember why that was a bad idea. Why he shouldn't get close to her in the mask. Why he should stop, leave, and never come back as his superhero alter-ego again. None of it mattered when he could _finally_ feel how soft Marinette Dupain-Cheng's lips really were, when he could feel her warmth beneath him, when he could taste her breath. She made all of is rational thoughts fade away and he just wanted to be _closer_. Marinette's hand wound their way into his hair, pulling him further down and fulfilling his wish. His own hands found a place on her hips, and for a moment the two just lay there, soaking each other in.

They did, however, have to come up for air eventually, so with great reluctance (at least on his part), the two teens pulled away from each other. There was no sound in the room other than their heavy breathing. Neither of them knew what to say. What _could_ they say after something like that? That one kiss, a simple action, had changed their relationship in a massive way and neither quite knew how to broach the subject. One of them had to say _something_ , though. But what?

"Wow," Adrien breathed.

 _Eloquent._

 ** _At least_ I _said something!_**

Marinette giggled beneath him. "I guess that's one way to put it." She had the prettiest smile on her face, the blush on her cheeks highlighting the light sprinkle of freckles across her nose. Adrien didn't think she'd ever been more beautiful than she was in that moment. "So what now?" Adrien's brow furrowed and he sighed heavily. That was the million-dollar question, wasn't it? How _could_ they go on from here? It was exactly the kind of situation he'd wanted to avoid.

"I… I don't know," he answered honestly. He really, _really_ wanted to be with Marinette, but he didn't want to pull away from her, either. And even if he did, there was no way to do it without hurting her. But she could get _physically_ hurt if she started dating a superhero and somebody found out. Adrien's mind kept running in circles, going over the same reasons why this was a bad idea, but not coming up with a good solution. He needed to talk to Ladybug, but now wasn't the time. He wouldn't see her again until the weekend. He sighed again. How had he messed this up so badly? They wouldn't have been in this mess if he hadn't been so thickheaded.

He felt Marinette's hands cup his face, forcing him to look her in the eye. "You're beating yourself up over this, aren't you?"

"You see right through me, don't you Princess?" he chuckled as he touched their foreheads together. "I really like you, Marinette." He heard her breath hitch beneath him. He didn't have to look to know she was an adorable shade of red.

"… what about Ladybug?" she whispered, so quiet he probably wouldn't have heard without his enhanced hearing.

"Ladybug will always be my first love," he told her. "But if she doesn't want me as anything more than a friend, I'll have to live with that. I don't want to risk our partnership for something she's made it clear she doesn't want." For some reason, this caused Marinette to squirm uncomfortably beneath him, but he pressed on. "But I really, _really_ like you, Marinette." He loved her, actually, but he wasn't brave enough to say that quite yet. "I don't… I don't know if it's as much as I love Ladybug yet, but I know I could. You're amazing." He looked her in the eye, trying to convey how serious he was in case his words weren't enough. Her face was bright red, but she was looking at him intently, as if he was the most important thing she could focus on right then.

"I really like you, too," she confessed. He felt his heart start beating faster, so much so he was surprised she couldn't seem to hear it.

"What about Adrien?"

 _WHY DID YOU ASK THAT?!_

 ** _I DON'T KNOW!_**

Marinette's brow furrowed as she thought over his question.

"Same as you, I guess," she sighed. "Adrien's never seen me as anything but a friend, and it never works out when I try to tell him how I feel, anyways." Adrien, who most certainly saw her as more than a friend, shifted guiltily over her. How could he have been so dense? "But it's… nice being with you." Her eyes seemed more blue than usual as they seemed to strip him down to his core. "I… I'd like to try being with you." Adrien's mouth went dry and he swallowed heavily.

"It'd be dangerous," he warned her.

"I know."

"You won't be able to tell anyone."

"I know."

"We can never have a normal date." Marinette smiled coyly.

"I'm more than okay with that." He couldn't take it anymore. He leaned in to kiss her again, reveling in the feeling of her lips on his.

This was dangerous.

He was making a mistake.

He couldn't care less.

* * *

 **Yes, I am skipping the battle. Because fight scenes are hard.**

 **So, right after inventory, I had to babysit for one of my mom's friends (don't worry, I love those girls to pieces, they are** _ **actual**_ **angels) and since the girls didn't know what they wanted to do and had never seen Miraculous before, I thought:** _ **Hey, why don't I show this children's show to actual children?**_ **The result was interesting to say the least. Aside from insisting that Adrien is made of toilet paper (don't ask), their** _ **unique**_ **solution for Timebreaker (kill one of them) and being aghast that no one recognized our heroes out of costume (we got as far as Lady Wifi, and I swear one of them broke at the ending) my favorite reaction had to be Pharaoh:**

 **C: His powers are** _ **literally**_ **the same as the bubble guy (Bubbler) and the flamingo bug chick (Timebreaker)!** _ **Literally**_ **the same!**

 **Me: Really?**

 **C: Yeah, they need new powers, like a pizza guy!**

 **Me(containing laughter): A pizza guy?**

 **C: Yeah, like,** _ **I'll cut you with my pizza!**_

 **Me:…. What if I told you that actually happened?**

 **Both: What.**

 **[cue uncontrolled laughter]**

 **I love those kids.**

 **Marinette's dress: pin/855613629180634682/**


	14. Chapter 14

**Okay, first off, thank you to** **Ph0en1xL0ver** **for pointing out a draft note I accidentally left in. not just because it let me take the note out, but because it caused me to see some MAJOR formatting issues with this fic. It turns out that all of the page breaks I put in were taken out when I posted! So I spent the better part of an hour re-working every chapter and re-uploading them. Now there are page breaks! Page breaks galore! You're the best, babe!**

 **But, real talk? This fic has WAY more Adrien than I intended. It's not a bad thing, he is my favorite, it's just not at all what I thought would happen.**

 **Also, can you believe how long this story is getting? I thought I might cap out at, like, 20,000 words, but I just passed 50,000? And I'm still not done?**

 **Last thing, on the previous chapter, someone left a review asking to discuss the latest episode with me. It sounded really fun! In fact, it** _ **is**_ **fun, but or AO3 aren't the best places to do it. I'm active on the Miraculous Wiki discussion boards, so if any of you are curious about my thoughts about new episodes, check there! I have the same username.**

* * *

Adrien groaned into his pillow pathetically, loathing himself.

 _I can't believe I did that._

He'd kissed Marinette. On the lips. _Twice_. Of course, there was nothing wrong with kissing Marinette. in fact, he wanted to do it again. Soon, if possible. The problem was, _Cat Noir_ had kissed her, not Adrien. That meant that he'd have to go to school tomorrow, look her in the eye, and pretend he didn't know exactly how soft her mouth was. _And_ he was still processing the fact that she liked him as Adrien! How was he supposed to talk to her tomorrow?! He groaned again, cursing his own stupidity.

"I'm an _idiot_ ," he moaned.

"Kid."

"Why did I _do_ that?"

"Hey, kid."

"This is going to be a disaster."

"KID!" Adrien looked up to see Plagg hovering over him. "Finally. Now, since I have your attention, allow me to say this: _stop whining_." Adrien scowled at the kwami.

"What, am I making your cheese taste bad or something?" he huffed, not in the mood for Plagg's ribbing.

"Well, yes, actually, but that's not the point."

"Then what is the point?"

"Let me finish and I'll tell you!" the kwami snapped, fixing Adrien with a hard look. The boy pouted, but remained silent. "Now, I think we can both agree that what you just did was pretty stupid."

"You are trying to help, right?" Adrien said incredulously.

"STOP. INTERRUPTING. The point is, it wasn't the smartest thing you've ever done, but it isn't the stupidest either. The stupidest was getting shot, by the way," he said before Adrien could interject. "Now, I could sit here and list _all_ the reasons you should stop doing this, but I won't, because not only do I not want to, you've already thought of them and it still hasn't stopped you." Adrien huddled into his pillow, embarrassed. "So instead, I'm gonna give you some advice: _stop freaking out_. I don't know how this- whatever it is you and Princess have going on is going to end, but getting too worked up over it isn't going to help anyone."

"But I don't know what to _do_!" Adrien whined. He felt childish, but he didn't know how else to voice his frustration.

"Can't help with that," Plagg said in an almost deadpan tone.

"Gee, thanks," Adrien replied sarcastically. He wished he could talk to someone else about this, but everyone he knew was missing some part of the truth. Nino and Alya couldn't know he was Cat Noir, and Ladybug couldn't know he was Adrien. Plagg was the only one who saw the entire situation, and he was… well, he was Plagg. He cared, but he didn't understand.

"Hey!" the kwami yelled, jarring Adrien from his thoughts. "I'm serious. All over thinking this will do is make you confused and angry, so _don't do it_." Adrien sighed, but realized that Plagg had a point.

"I guess," he mumbled into the pillow. Plagg gave him an appraising look before nodding briskly and flying back over to the desk- and his cheese, leaving Adrien to ponder over the events of that evening a bit more.

He had to eventually leave when Marinette's mother called up to check on her. His hasty retreat had left no real time to talk about their new situation with his girlfriend. He could call her that, right? They were kind of dating, or at least, that's what Marinette had implied. He hadn't asked her point blank, so he didn't have a clear answer. He could go back around tonight to talk to her, but it seemed too soon. Would he look needy if he went back right away? Tomorrow would probably be better. But what would he say? Should he act like normal and just… talk to her? It was always fun to just hang out, and Marinette seemed to like it, too. But what if she was expecting something different now that they were –probably- dating? He'd told her they couldn't go on normal dates, but that didn't mean no dates at all, right? And how would the… the kissing work out? Adrien could feel his ears turn red just thinking about it, but he still wanted to kiss Marinette again. He just… wasn't sure how much she was expecting. They probably wouldn't, uh, _go_ very far. Marinette didn't seem like the kind of girl that would be comfortable with that kind of stuff, at least not right away.

And none of _that_ addressed the most immediate question: how was he going to act around her at school tomorrow?

Adrien groaned and smothered his face deeper into the pillow. Maybe Plagg was right. He _was_ overthinking this. He wasn't going to be able to think of anything, at least not while he was a jumbled mess.

So, he sent a quick text to Nathalie saying that he was tired and going to bed early, and turned out the lights. He expected to lie awake for a few hours, but surprisingly enough, it wasn't very long before he was drifting off, a familiar set of bluebell eyes filling his thoughts. The strange thing was, he wasn't quite sure who they belonged to.

* * *

At school the next morning, Adrien's regret over his actions flared up again in full force. By some miracle, he managed to keep a straight face when saying hello to Marinette, despite it being every bit as difficult as he'd expected it to be. He had to ignore the adorable way her sleepy eyes perked up when she saw him, and the way a few strands of hair had flown loose from her pigtails to frame her face.

"Good morning, Marinette."

"Oh, uh, guh-good morning Adrien!" She was more stiff and awkward than normal, but Adrien understood why. After all, she was talking to the boy she liked after just agreeing to go out with (as far as she knew) someone else. He completely understood. After all, he wasn't sure how he was going to talk to Ladybug about, well, _anything_ normally for a while. He sighed quietly as she shuffled to her seat, avoiding eye contact with him.

It wasn't long before class started, Ms. Bustier talking about _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ , but Adrien couldn't bring himself to focus. He was too busy kicking himself. If he'd just been more patient, waited for Marinette to calm down around him as Adrien, either of them would have to worry about anyone finding out about her relationship with Cat Noir. It was still… strange to know that she had a crush on his civilian self. He hadn't had time to process it properly. Maybe that was why he'd been so impulsive yesterday. If he'd actually had time to come up with a plan, maybe Cat Noir wouldn't have kissed Marinette. Maybe he would've gone to her as Adrien. Maybe this wouldn't be such a tangled up mess.

The worst part was how dishonest the entire thing felt. It would be one thing to woo a girl as Cat Noir if she was a stranger, but Marinette sat right behind him. She was his friend. She _liked_ him, and he knew it. He could've easily done this the safer way, but he'd been so impulsive that he'd screwed everything up. Would… would Marinette hate him when she found out? When, not if, because one way or another, Adrien didn't think he'd be able to keep his identity a secret from her for very long. He didn't want to.

Which brought up another problem: Ladybug. Yes, she'd said that she wouldn't mind sharing their identities if it was an emergency, but this was different. It wasn't an emergency. It was the result of his own impatience. She was going to be angry with him, and he deserved it. He just hoped his partner would have a better idea of what to do than he did.

* * *

Marinette had no idea what to do. She knew she should be honest with Cat Noir about who she was, but it was hard. She didn't want to hurt him, but what else could happen when he found out that the girl that had been brushing him off for months was the same one he was sort-of dating? It felt like a lie, slick and slimy.

She shouldn't have let him kiss her. She should've waited until after Hawk Moth was defeated. She'd just… gotten so caught up in the moment, it felt wrong to tell him no. If she'd rejected him as Marinette, it wouldn't be the same. She'd have turned him down as both personas. Would there ever be a chance for them if she did that? She wasn't sure.

Alya, vigilant as ever, had picked up on her mood and was sending her less and less subtle hints that they needed to talk. As nice as it would be to get everything off her chest with her best friend, she wasn't sure what to say. She didn't want to lie, but she couldn't tell the truth, either. The choice was taken out of her hands as, the second break started, the feisty redhead grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to a secluded spot in the locker room.

"Okay, girl, spill. You've been acting weird since yesterday. What's up?" Marinette grimaced and tried to think of an acceptable answer.

"Well…." No use. She was drawing a blank.

"Is it because of the akuma attack? With that guy from Ms. Mendeleiv's class?"

"Well, sort of, I guess…" Marinette had come to school early that morning to try and talk to Wei about what happened, but he'd steadfastly avoided her. She didn't blame him, but it left a sour taste in her mouth. It was like what had happened with Nathaniel all over again. They were both so unsure about what to do about the situation that they were doing their best to ignore it, and the longer they ignored it, the harder it became to talk about.

"Well? What is it? You know I'm not dropping this until you say something." Marinette didn't doubt it. Alya's eyes were fierce and determined. She needed an answer, but Marinette just wasn't sure what to say. She bit her lip and shifted uncomfortably, hugging her books close to her chest.

"Well…" Alya studied her for a moment before her eyes lit up in understanding.

" _Oh_ , oh, _I_ get it," she said with a devious smirk. Marinette was immediately on guard.

"Get what?" the designer asked suspiciously.

"This is about _Cat Noir_." Marinette squeaked and turned bright red. _That_ wasn't what she expected.

"W-wh-what?" How much did Alya know? Had she seen Cat come onto Marinette's balcony? Had Alya figured out he'd been visiting her? What was going on?!

"Girl, you don't need to hide it!" the blogger laughed brightly. "He saved you and now you have a crush on him! It's no biggie! I mean, from what I saw, it _was_ pretty cool." Marinette let out an internal sigh of relief. Alya didn't know, but now they could _talk_.

"I just… it's weird, you know?" she said, flushing bright red. "I've never looked at him like that before, and now…" She might not be able to say everything, but it felt great to get some of this off her chest. "And I still like Adrien! I know its okay to like more than one person, but it still feels…. dishonest."

"Is that why you wouldn't look Adrien in the eye this morning?" the blogger asked. Marinette nodded. "Girl," Alya sighed, shaking her head fondly. "You just can't make things easy for yourself, can you?"

"Why are boys so _confusing_?" Marinette moaned in despair.

"I think that's just your own bad luck," Alya laughed. Not appreciating her friend's blasé attitude towards her inner turmoil, Marinette punched her in the arm. "Alright, alright," Alya raised her arms to block any more oncoming attacks. "Serious talk," she said with stony severity. Marinette stuck out her tongue. "So what are you going to do about it? I mean, you're awesome, but it's not like you can date a superhero."

 _If only you knew._ "I don't know," Marinette answered honestly. "I mean, I know it wouldn't work with Cat, but I don't really feel… comfortable chasing after Adrien while I like someone else, too."

"This better not be an excuse to get out of talking to Adrien," Alya said, narrowing her eyes.

"No," Marinette giggled, shaking her head. "I just… I feel all mixed up, you know? I kind of want to sort myself out." What she really wanted was to tell Alya about how she and Cat were already (probably) dating, but that opened up a whole new set of problems.

"Well, okay, but you know you can talk to me about anything, right?" Alya said, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"I know," Marinette replied, grateful to have such an understanding best friend. "Come on, break will be over soon. We should start heading back," she said as she began to walk away.

"Wait! There's one more thing I wanted to ask you!"

"What?" Marinette asked over her shoulder.

"Do you think Cat Noir is a good kisser?"

"ALYA!"

* * *

It was time. He was going to do this. There was no reason to be nervous. He was just going to go visit his maybe-girlfriend. At night. In her room. Without her parents knowing. The day after he'd kissed her.

Adrien wasn't very good at psyching himself up.

He was currently crouched atop a gargoyle on Notre Dame, eyes locked on the Dupain-Cheng bakery. He and Marinette hadn't exactly _said_ that they were going to talk about this new… thing between them, but it seemed better to get it over with as soon as possible. Rip it off like a band-aid. What could possibly go wrong?

Adrien silenced the chorus of little voices that pointed out _exactly_ what could go wrong. He'd stalled long enough already. The sun was finally setting, it's last few rays clawing sleepily at the sky before the stars came out. The city was covered in long shadows, making it the perfect time to sneak across the rooftops unseen. Carefully, doing perfect justice to his namesake, Adrien flitted through the shadows on the rooftops towards the bakery.

Landing on the balcony, he raised his hand to knock on the trapdoor before hesitating again. Maybe this could wait. He _did_ need to talk to Ladybug about this whole mess. What if he ended up doing something even more stupid tonight that would just make his Lady even more upset with him? He should go. He should go straight home and talk to Marinette on Monday, _after_ he'd consulted with Ladybug. Except his feet wouldn't move. He needed to talk to Marinette as soon as possible. What would she think of him if he kissed her one night and then disappeared for a few days? Would she think he was some sort of player? That he didn't take her seriously? Would she hate him?

So he sat there, crouched and frozen by dozens of conflicting doubts, hoping for _something_ to happen to break the silence. His salvation came from the room below.

He began to hear a soft _thumping_ sound that steadily grew louder, then a frustrated groan. Adrien's lips quirked up. His Princess must be as confused about this as he was. Gathering his courage, he finally made his hand move to tap on the glass.

 _Knock knock_.

There was a hurried rustling as Marinette no doubt hurried up the stairs to the trap door. Soon, her pretty, flushed face was looking back at him from the other side of the window. He shuffled back a bit as she carefully opened it, popping her head out into the night air.

"Hi," she said bashfully, peeking at him through her lashes.

"Hi," he said back, equally shy.

"Do you wanna…come in?" Adrien nodded. Both teens were silent as they made their way down into Marinette's room, settling themselves down on the chaise. Their posture was stiff and awkward, neither willing to make to first move or look the other in the eye. They sat like that for a few minutes before a loud _thump_ came from the desk. They both jolted in surprise, Marinette almost falling off the couch.

"Are you alright?" Adrien asked as he reached out for her arm and helped her get situated back on the chaise.

"Oh, um, yes," she replied, blushing madly. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning to face him. "So we should, uh, talk." For the first time that evening, they were looking straight at each other. Adrien felt pinned under Marinette's blue gaze.

"Right. That… that would be a good idea," he agreed. "Where do you want to start?" Marinette bit her lip (which Adrien tried valiantly to ignore) as she pondered the question.

"How about the more basic stuff first."

"Sounds good," Adrien agreed.

"Okay," she puffed determinedly. "So, first things first. Are we…." Her face turned a darker shade of pink and she started wringing her hands in her lap. "Are we dating?" She pressed her lips together tightly, bracing herself for the answer.

"Well…" Adrien gulped. "Do you… do you want to be?" His face was probably as red as hers by this point. "Cause, I mean, I totally understand if you don't, it'd be pretty hard to date a superhero and all, and you're so pretty you could probably have anyone you wanted as your boyfriend-" Marinette stopped his rambling with a finger to his lips.

"I want to be," she said, far more confident than she had been a few moments ago.

" _Oh_ ," was all he could manage. Marinette removed her hand and giggled.

"This is kind of weird, isn't it?" she asked.

"Well, it isn't every day I drop by a girl's house at night to talk about our relationship."

"No," she shook her head. "I mean… being nervous. It seems kind of silly after last night, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess it is," Adrien chuckled. "So how do you want this to work, exactly? I mean, what… changes?"

"Well… I don't think much really needs to change. I mean, dating someone is basically just, like, having fun with them, you know?"

"Not really. I haven't… ever had a girlfriend before," he confessed. Marinette's eyes widened in shock. "I guess it's weird for someone our age…" he said as his hand moved to scratch his neck.

"Oh! No, no, that's not it!" Marinette assured him. "I-I've never had a boyfriend, either. I mean, it's not like anybody _needs_ to have had a boyfriend or girlfriend by a certain age it's just…"

"Just what?"

"I guess I just… assumed you'd had one before, you know? Cause of all the… the flirting." She looked down to her lap and began to study her hands.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, curious.

"Well, I mean, I just thought that you flirted with everybody," she mumbled.

"What gave you that idea?" he prodded with a furrowed brow.

"Well, you're always flirting with Ladybug, and when we met, you flirted with me, too. I don't really see you talk to a lot of other girls our age, so I just thought…." She brought her hands up to cover her face and whined softly. "Ooooh, I don't know! I thought you were like that with everybody!" Adrien smiled as he looked at Marinette.

"Well, I guess I can't blame you," he conceded. "The only other people my age I talk to on a regular basis other than you and Ladybug are Alya and Chloe. Alya's more interested in a story than anything else and Chloe's, well…"

"Chloe?" Marinette offered, peeking out from behind her fingers.

"Exactly," he agreed, smiling broadly. "But you know, Princess," he said in a more serious tone, reaching to pull her hands away from her face, "I don't flirt with a lot of girls." He was looking her directly in the eye, not letting her gaze flit away like she wanted to.

"So why… why did you flirt with me?" she asked softly.

"I-" he began, then let out a deep sigh. "It's kind of silly." Marinette bit her lip and gave a small grin.

"Well, now I'm curious, so you _have_ to tell me," she teased.

"Isn't there a saying about curiosity and cats?" he teased back. She shoved his arm playfully.

" _You're_ the only cat here, smarty. _I'm_ a princess, and therefore have nothing to worry about," she countered smugly. "Now get on with it."

"All right, all right," he chuckled. "As you command, Princess," he drawled, giving her a mock-bow. "I… I wanted to impress you," he muttered.

"What?" she asked, cocking her head.

"I wanted to impress you," he repeated more loudly. "I wanted you to think I was cool, so I… _may_ have overdone it slightly," he confessed.

"Slightly?" she snorted.

"Hey!" he said defensively. "That's how cool characters act in anime! And it worked, didn't it? You _totally_ thought I was awesome!"

"Whatever you say, tomcat," she giggled.

"Wait…" he muttered, thinking back to the first time he had met Marinette as Cat during the Evillustrator incident. "Were you-were you _faking_ it?!" he demanded, slightly aghast. Marinette burst out laughing.

"I mean- it's just- you were trying so _hard_ ," she gasped, trying to get words out between snickers. "I didn't want to hurt your feelings!"

"You were just _playing along_? You didn't think I was _cool_?!" He gave an exaggeratedly offended face, but there was a small twinge in his ego. Did Marinette not think he was cool?

"No! Nonononono, you are-" She snorted again, but quickly composed herself. "You _are_ cool," she finally managed to say with a relatively straight face. Adrien's ego was still not pacified.

"Really?" he asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Really," she assured him. "But you're also a massive dork."

"Hey!" he protested.

"Oh, come on! It's not a _bad_ thing. I _like_ dorks," she said, putting a hand on his arm.

"For real?"

"For real," she promised, giving him a dazzling smile. "Though…" she mused thoughtfully, "I have to ask… why did you want me to think you were cool?" Adrien choked slightly and flushed. It really seemed so silly now, especially sitting in her room surrounded by posters of himself. He'd just… wanted to make a good impression on her, especially considering how badly her first meeting with Adrien had gone. He'd wanted her to like at least _one_ version of himself, so he'd tried to act as slick as he possibly could. But he couldn't tell her that. And he _definitely_ couldn't tell her that he'd gotten stuck in a locker waiting to ask her as Adrien what she'd thought of his superhero self (Honestly, he was lucky Sabrina had come by. Otherwise he never would have gotten out without her noticing). Now that he knew she had a crush on him, he felt ridiculous.

"I, uh…. plead the Fifth?" he ventured meekly.

"We're not in the States," she deadpanned. "But I suppose I'll let it slide," she said airily, and Adrien let out a sigh of relief. "… _for now_ ," she finished with a smug smirk. It only lasted a moment, though, as soon she was giggling at his put-upon reaction. He loved her laugh. Sure, he'd rather it wasn't at his expense, but the sound always made him feel just a little bit lighter inside."So back to business," she offered, returning to their original topic. "I don't really think we have to change much. I mean, it's not like we can go on a lot of dates anyways, so just hanging out and talking like we have been is fine. Besides, I have fun talking with you," she admitted, her cheeks going that perfect shade of pink.

"I have fun talking to you, too," he answered softly. Marinette bit her lip and looked away before she spoke again.

"Though, I suppose you're allowed inside now," she declared. Adrien's ears perked up in excitement.

"Really?" he asked.

"Well, since I'm sure you're not some mangy alley cat now, it's probably alright," she teased, looking at him through the corner of her eye. Adrien loved the light sparkle of amusement that she was trying to suppress.

"But Princess, you've already invited this cat in before," he drawled leaning in a bit. She pushed him back with a finger to his nose.

"Taking care of a wounded stray is different. Besides, I still don't know where you've been," sh countered lightly.

"I assure you, Princess, this cat is very clean," he informed her. "I can even use the litter box!" he proclaimed proudly, earning a giggle.

"Oh? So are you a house cat?" she guessed, a bedeviled grin on her face.

"Wouldn't you like to know," he bantered. Abruptly, Adrien realized that they had slowly been leaning closer. At that point he could feel Marinette's soft breath on his lips. His gaze flickered briefly to her mouth before shifting back up too her eyes. They were wide open, expectant, and more beautiful than ever. Slowly, Adrien leaned closer. Then closer. Closer. Soon they were only a hairsbreadth apart. He hovered there for a moment, uncertain. It seemed to easy. Was she really going to let him kiss her again?

Not exactly, it seemed. Apparently tired of waiting for him to make a move, one of Marinette's hands grasped his bell and pulled him to her, their lips finally meeting. Adrien's hands found themselves around her waist again, tugging her into his lap. Her free hand curled around his bicep, and she tilted her head to get a better angle. Slowly, very slowly, they began to move their mouths. It was awkward and clumsy, their teeth clashing at times, but it felt amazing. And so they sat there, on Marinette's chaise, just soaking each other in and learning how to kiss.

* * *

 **Hey, Alya! You're back! Sorry to the guys that wanted to see Nino. I felt like giving the girls some love 3.**

 **Anyways! Our dorks are finally together (thanks to Tikki)! Now this dumpster can finally set sail! Hurrah! But seriously, if there's anything you guys want to see happen, now is the time to ask! This is the easiest point to fit in some fluff! Come on! I want to give back! Just a few major things:**

 **There** _ **will**_ **be a reveal. I have** _ **always**_ **intended there to be a reveal. This fic will end with these guys together, and you can't form a relationship based on lies and half-truths.**

 **This fic is rated T, and will stay rated T. Marinette and Adrien are 14 in this fic, and therefore children. They will not be doing anything that I do not think children should be doing. If you want smut, there are better places for that. Here, they will not graduate beyond kissing.**

 **This is, primarily, a MariChat fic. While that doesn't necessarily mean there won't be other corners of the love square, there won't be as many. Feel free to leave suggestions, but don't feel bad if I don't fit them in. it just means your idea wasn't right for** _ **this**_ **story.**

 **Other than that, anything goes! I'm really grateful for all the support I've gotten for this story, and I want to give back to you guys a little more!**

 **Finally, I know I've been posting twice a week recently, but I think this is the only chapter for this week. I kind of got stuck on this 'in between' scene for a while. I just wanted to let you guys know so you aren't looking for another update and end up disappointed.**

 **Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy what comes next!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Excuse me while I take my writer's block into a dark alley and shoot it.**

 **I knew it. I KNEW IT! I** _ **KNEW**_ **I wouldn't be able to finish this without missing a week. But you know what? THAT'S NOT THE WORST PART. The WORST part is that I got writer's block the** _ **same week**_ **one of** _ **my**_ **favorite authors favorited** _ **my**_ **story! I F CKED IT UP! SENPAI NOTICED ME AND I F CKED IT UP!**

 **So yeah, sorry for missing a week. But I'm back! Here, have a chapter!**

* * *

Mariette wasn't sure how long she and Cat had been sitting there, but it must have been a considerable amount of time with how tired her mouth was getting. Even so, she didn't want to stop. While she didn't have anyone to compare him to, she was certain she could say that Cat Noir was an excellent kisser. Sadly, they had to stop at some point. So with great reluctance, they separated, though neither tried to move Marinette out of Cat's lap.

" _Wow_ ," he muttered breathlessly. Marinette giggled.

"You said that the last time, kitty," she reminded him. "I'm starting to wonder how limited your vocabulary is." Her tone was light and teasing, but she was every bit as short of breath as he was. Seeing him like that, flushed and winded with kissed bruised lips, because of _her_ , no less, did wonders for her ego. That didn't stop her from blushing furiously when his mouth quirked into one of his mischievous grins.

"What can I say, Princess? I doubt the bard himself would be able to string a coherent sentence together after kissing _you_ ," he murmured, his voice equal parts flirtatious and teasing.

"W-well, I did manage to take your breath away," she shot back, unwilling to let him fluster her.

"Hmmm, you did, didn't you?" he hummed thoughtfully. "That could be a problem."

"Oh? Why is that?" Marinette tried to keep her voice even, but it inevitably cracked a little, and that stupid cat heard it if his smirk was anything to go by.

"Because, Princess, I value my breath, so it would be appreciated if you didn't take it away every time you walk by." He punctuated it with a wink, causing Marinette to let out a squeak. Blushing crimson, she pushed his shoulder roughly before hiding her face in her hands.

"I was right, you _are_ a flirt! A huge, massive, _mega_ flirt! A mega dorky flirt!" Cat chuckled at her outburst, wrapping his arms around her a bit more tightly.

"Hey, come on! Don't hide from me like that," he urged, butting her covered face with his head. "I want to see your pretty face." Naturally, Marinette responded by turning away as far as she could ( which wasn't very far, since she was still sitting in his lap) and used one of her hands to bat at his shoulder.

"You-you! Stupid! Flirty! GAH!" This only caused Cat to chuckle louder. He grabbed the wrist of the hand that was currently assaulting him and pulled her closer.

"What's wrong, Princess? _Cat got your tongue?_ " he teased. Marinette gaped at him in utter _disdain_.

"You _didn't_ ," she said in a warning tone. "You _didn't!_ "

"Oh, Princess," the smug feline replied as he waggled his eyebrows, his smirk stronger than ever. "I believe I just did." There was, of course, only one logical reaction to that. Marinette grabbed a pillow off the chaise and smacked him in the face with it. He let out a small 'oof,' but she wasn't ready to let him off the hook just yet.

"Of all the corny!" _Smack_. "Cheesy!" _Smack!_ " _Predictable_ puns you could make!" At this point, Cat was almost coming apart with laughter, his attempts to defend himself half-hearted at best. Marinette gave him a few more smacks for good measure before huffing and sitting back. She scowled as Cat slowly caught his breath, wiping a tear from his eye. Eventually, he stopped. Leaning back on his hands, he gave her that cheshire grin of his.

"I'm not sorry," he said, eyes twinkling in humor. Marinette raised her pillow again threateningly, causing him to start chuckling again and lift an arm to shield himself. "Oh, come on! I _had_ to!" he laughed, grabbing her weapon and lowering it between them.

"No. No, you didn't," she deadpanned, giving him a flat look.

"But _Marinette_!" he whined, giving her the best pout he could while trying not to burst out laughing again (it was surprisingly effective, but she wasn't going to tell him that).

"No buts," she said sternly as she crossed her arms. "That was awful and you know it."

"But that's the _point_!" he explained eagerly. "It's funny _because_ it's awful!"

" _You're_ awful!" she huffed. "And you need some sort of intervention!" Marinette turned away from him, trying to hide her blush, but that was a mistake. She didn't see the mischievous glint in Cat's eye, so she was totally off guard when he flipped her onto her back and hovered over her.

"Oh, I'm _awful_ , am I?" he drawled, looking at her almost wolfishly. "Are you _sure_ about tha-"

"Marinette!" came a sudden voice from downstairs. "It's almost time for bed, have you finished your homework?"

"Oh, uh- YES MAMA!" the girl called back, hoping her voice was even.

"Alright, just checking! Make sure you go to sleep soon! I don't want you to be late for school tomorrow!"

"Yes Mama! Goodnight!"

"Goodnight, sweetie! I love you!"

"Love you too!" Both teens sat frozen on the chaise for a few seconds, waiting to see if there would be a reply. When none came, they let each let out a sigh of relief.

"I, uh, I guess I should go now, huh?" Cat said awkwardly.

"Yeah," Marinette agreed breathily. "That'd probably be best." She bit her lip and looked up at him through her lashes. "Later this week?" she added hopefully. Cat gave her a megawatt smile.

"If I have time, it's yours," he assured her. He carefully got off the chaise and helped her sit up. "Until next time, Princess," he said, taking her hand and giving it a chaste kiss. For some reason, this felt more intimate than making out with him for the last half hour.

"Okay," she managed, giving him a small grin. Cat Noir gave her one last wink before leaping out onto the balcony and into the night.

* * *

Marinette really should have known better than to not expect _something_ to go wrong. Honestly, at this point in her life, it was strange when there _wasn't_ some sort of weird hiccup or catastrophe. However, she, still a little dazed over what had happened the previous night, foolishly ignored the pointed looks and furtive glances Alya gave her the after she had managed to slide into her seat. When the redhead didn't say anything to her during morning break, she decided it was nothing. Consequently, once lunch break arrived, her defenses were completely down.

"Hey, Marinette," the blogger said the second the bell sounded, far too enthusiastic to be trusted. Marinette leaned back a bit, trying to regain some of the personal space Alya had invaded.

"Uh, hey, Alya…" she replied stiffly, confused. "What is it?" The devious gleam in Alya's eye made the smaller girl feel like a mouse facing down a hungry cat.

"Oh, nothing much, I was just wondering if you wanted to go check out that new café with me for lunch! You know, the one by that fabric store you like?" It seemed an innocent enough invitation.

"Oh, sure! That sounds-"

" _What a coincidence_!" Nino interrupted suddenly, turning around in his seat to face the girls. "My man Adrien and I were _just_ planning to go to the _same place_!"

"Wait, we were?" said a confused Adrien, turning as well. Marinette was instantly filled with apprehension.

" _Wow_!" Alya plowed on, ignoring the model and the adorably befuddled look on his face. "That _is_ a coincidence! Crazy!"

"I know, right?"

 _They aren't_ , she thought.

"Hey, can we tag along with you two ladies?"

 _They are!_ Marinette wasn't sure what their friends were planning this time, but if it involved Adrien, she had to get out of it. She couldn't let Nino and Alya set her up with someone when she already had a (secret) boyfriend! "You know, I just remembered-"

" _Of course_ you can!" the redhead cut in. "It'll be fun! Come on!" Suddenly, Marinette felt a sturdy grip around her arm, dragging her out of her seat.

"Hol- wha- Alya, wait!" she protested, but the blogger continued forward steadfastly. Adrien was making similarly futile protests to Nino, who had a smug grin on his face. Before either could put up any real resistance, Adrien and Marinette had been shoved into a booth at the café, their respective best friends guarding the exit. Marinette looked across to the blond boy, who looked just as off-balance as her. He gave her a small smile that made heat creep up her cheeks. Just because she'd accepted her feelings for Cat didn't mean she was over Adrien. The sunshiney boy could still make her heart race.

"So, _Marinette_ ," Alya drawled, placing her chin on her hand as she faced her friend. "I have a few questions for you." There was determination in the bloggers eyes: she wanted answers, and she was getting them.

"If you wanted to talk, you didn't have to drag me over here," the blue-eyed girl grumbled, doing her best not to look at Adrien. Alya's lips cured predatorily.

"Oh, but I _did_ ," she insisted, leaning closer. Marinette scooched back as far as she could, but was soon pressed against the wall. "You see, if I talked to you about this _alone_ you might try and get away with some excuse." The designer groaned internally. So _that_ was it. Alya wanted to use Adrien to keep her off balance so she couldn't whip out a good excuse for whatever they were going to talk about.

"Well, what is it?" Marinette sighed, resigned to her fate. If it was something Alya was willing to share with Nino and Adrien, it couldn't be _too_ bad, right?

"What was Cat Noir doing in your room last night?" Marinette and Adrien choked simultaneously. _That_ had not been what they were expecting.

"Huhh-wuh-wa-what?!" Marinette squeaked, stiffening. "I-I-I- I don't-"

"Don't lie to me girl," Alya said sternly, pinning her with her eyes. "I _saw_ him leave your balcony last night. I _know_ he was there."

" _Why were you looking at my balcony last night?!_ " the designer hissed, trying desperately to gather her thoughts.

"That doesn't matter," the redhead said dismissively.

" _I think it matters a lot!_ " Marinette argued, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. Why, why, _why_ had Alya been there?! _Why_ was she the one to have seen him? How much had she seen? How was she going to get out of this?!

"Don't dodge the question girl, we're waiting." Sure enough, Nino and Adrien were at the edge of their seats, staring at her intensely. There was a strange look in the blond's eye that Marinette didn't have the mental capacity to identify at the moment, but he looked oddly pale.

"Well, uh, he was-" she wracked her mind for a good excuse, _anything_ other than the truth. "He was checking up on me!" she blurted out. That didn't sound suspicious, right?

"Oh, really?" Wrong, apparently, at least if Alya's tone was anything to go by. "That's pretty special. I mean, the heroes of Paris don't normally make house calls." Dang it! She was right.

 _What now?!_

 ** _I'm working on it!_**

"W-well, _normally_ people don't get k-k-k- _kissed_ by super villains!" Marinette countered, sure that she was as red as Tikki at that point. Alya pursed her lips, seeming to acknowledge the validity of the point.

"But why didn't he come the night before, then?"

 _SHUT UP NINO!_

 ** _Yelling won't do any good now, he's already asked the question!_**

 _WELL ANSWER IT!_

 ** _I'M TRYING!_**

"He- he couldn't! He got caught up in something personal after the attack and wasn't free until last night!" _TAKE THAT, NINO!_

 ** _Yeah! Stop asking reasonable questions!_**

 _… I think we have a problem._

 ** _I_** **know _we have a problem._**

"Okay, but _why_ was he in your room?" Alya pressed, not yet giving up on the idea of a scoop. "Come on, girl! You _know_ I wouldn't tell anyone else, right? It'll stay between us!" She was practically bouncing in her seat at that point. Honestly, if her enthusiasm had been directed at anything else, it probably would have been endearing.

"There's nothing _to_ tell," Marinette groaned. "I-I, well, I invited him in for a snack! You know, to say thanks for… well, everything…" It was the first excuse she could think of. Hopefully it would be enough. Alya stared her down a moment longer, gauging the truthfulness of her words. Marinette tried not to squirm too much.

"All right," the blogger relented. Marinette (and Adrien) let out a sigh of relief. "But you're giving me details later, got it?" she said, pointing a stern finger at her friend.

"Of course, Alya," Marinette giggled, relieved the interrogation was over.

"So!" Adrien cut in, seemingly eager to change the subject. "Why don't we start thinking about what we want to eat?"

"Yeah! That's an idea!" Marinette blurted back. Adrien snorted quietly and Alya shook her head beside her. After a moment, she realized what she'd said. "I-I-I mean a _good_ idea! It's a _good_ idea! Like, maybe even a great one! It- I'll stop talking now." This was going to be an awkward lunch.

* * *

It was Saturday night before Adrien-er, well, _Cat Noir_ \- got the chance to see Marinette again. He'd just been too busy with all of his other extracurriculars. He'd tried to see her anyways, but…

"I'm not transforming you just so you can go over to your girlfriend's house and fall asleep on her couch."

"But _Plagg_!"

" _No, Adrien_."

And that was the end of that discussion. So he waited. It was frustrating to not be able to talk to Marinette as himself, but that wasn't something he felt comfortable doing without talking to Ladybug first. So it wasn't surprising that he was excited to knock on Marinette's balcony door that evening.

"Good evening, Princess," he crooned once she poked her head out.

"Evening, tomcat," she replied cheerily, opening the trapdoor. Her eyes caught on something behind him and she stifled a giggle. "I'd ask if you were happy to see me, but the answer seems pretty obvious." Adrien turned to find his tail was twitching excitedly behind him. With a small yelp of embarrassment he snatched the treacherous thing in a viselike grip.

"W-well, of course I am!" he said, trying to keep his voice from cracking in embarrassment. "You _are_ the _cat's meow_ , after all," he declared, waggling his eyebrows. Marinette was unimpressed.

"Really?" she deadpanned, giving him a flat look.

"I don't do well under pressure, okay?" he grumbled. Marinette giggled again.

"Fine, I guess I'll let that one go," she conceded, "but _only_ because I'm happy to see you again." She took his hand and led her down into her room. "So, any idea what you want to do tonight?" she asked as they made their way down.

"Uhh… not really," Adrien admitted, reaching back to scratch his neck bashfully. "I didn't really think about what to do. I just kinda… wanted to see you." It was embarrassing to be honest like that, but if it made Marinette flare up like a stop light every time, he'd have to do it more often. He snickered at the adorably flustered look on her face. She responded by scowling and smacking him on the arm.

"Oh, quite, you dumb stray," she muttered, but the effect was muddled by her blush. Adrien decided to take mercy on her and smothered his laughter.

"Well, if we were to go back to your original question, I didn't think of anything beforehand, but maybe we could play some UMS?" he proposed, changing the subject. Marinette's eyes immediately took on a competitive gleam.

"Oh?" she challenged. "You sure, kitty? I'm not sure if you know, but I _am_ a city champion," she bragged, already getting out the controllers.

"Oh, I know," he said teasingly.

"Well, don't say I didn't warn you," she sing-songed as she handed him the controller and pulled up an extra chair. "After all, _you_ may call me a princess, but when it comes to this game, I'm the _queen_."

"Well, I don't mean to brag, but I happen to be pretty good myself." And he'd been practicing since the last time they'd played together. If Marinette thought it was going to be an easy victory, she was in for a real surprise.

* * *

Marinette, it seemed, was _not_ the one in for a surprise. She must not have even shown half her skill the last time they played, because she stomped him no matter what he tried.

"No! Nononononono!" he Adrien cried as he mashed the buttons in a desperate attempt to save his mecha's depleted health bar. Alas, Marinette's combo landed, leaving her victorious. _Again_.

" _Yes!_ "

" _No!_ "

Adrien groaned pathetically as she did a little victory dance, twirling around and wiggling her hips. As much as he enjoyed it, Adrien's competitive side demanded a rematch.

"Again!" he demanded petulantly, pouting. Marinette apparently found it hilarious as she started giggling energetically.

"Are you sure? I mean, I guess there is that saying, 28th time's the charm," she teased. Adrien grumbled, and Marinette's eyes softened. "Aww, come on, Cat, don't be like that. You know you'd hate it even more if I let you win," she consoled him, putting a soothing hand on his shoulder.

"How would you know? You've never tried." He wasn't really upset, but it was fun to see Marinette fuss over him like this, even if they both knew they were joking.

"Call it woman's intuition," she said with a smile. "And do you want to know what else my intuition is telling me?"

"What?" he asked.

"That it's late, and you should go home." Adrien pouted, not wanting to leave, but knowing Marinette was right.

"Fine. But next time we do something that _doesn't_ involve you kicking my but."

"I make no promises," she said slyly. Adrien smiled and stood up before taking her hand and placing a light kiss on her knuckles.

"Good night, fair maiden! May your dreams be full of me!"

"Oh, just go, you dork!" she snorted, pushing him away playfully. He gave her a two fingered salute before climbing up the stairs and out the trapdoor. He closed it and made his way to the edge of the balcony.

"Goodnight, Princess," he said softly to the night air.

* * *

 **So, yeah, this chapter took a while, and it's a bit shorter than normal. It's not my favorite, but it's done and that's what's important! Special shout outs to** **Djtiger901** **, who requested Alya almost finding out, and** **Demi clayton, who requested video game night! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**


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